When the clock strikes twelve
by Isis-light
Summary: When a writer, desperate to find new ideas and a girl desperate to get a job meet, two seperate worlds collide. Madness ensues and a new journey for both radical character begins. Ichigo x Rukia. AU modern times.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Well most of everything was explained in the summary, hope you like and do review! Happy reading!**

Meet Rukia Kuchiki, an average high school graduate who apparently has an enact habit of-

Crash!

"Sorry! I'll fix that!" Rukia wiped her hands on her apron before approaching her table and setting the hot chocolate and coffee before her clients, "Here's our order,"

"Thanks," the young child grinned up at her, his mother on the other hands scowled at the waitress before waving her off. Rukia bowed her head lowly, excusing herself and walking back to clean up her mess in the kitchen.

Her jet black hair was tied in a neat bun to protect any hair falling into anybody order, Rukia swept the shards of glass into the pan, picking it up and throwing it in the bin. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips, she brushed a bead of sweat away from her face.

"You okay?" Nemu, another waitress asked. Rukia nodded with a small smile, for most of her life she'd been by herself, with exception to the orphanage she had been in. They hadn't told her much just that an unknown female came to drop her off when she was still a baby, leaving her on their doorstep.

She received a bursary back in school to further her education, her smarts were all she relied upon but unfortunately her bursary didn't cover her future tuition and hence she's a waitress, just trying to live each day with the little she earns.

"Hey Ruks? Boss wants to see you," Hinamori called, opening the door widely. Rukia's violet eyes narrowed in confusion. "Sorry, I don't know what it's about either, he just wants to see you,"

"S-Sure,"

.

.

Meet Ichigo Kurosaki, an above average author currently struggling with-

**Scrunch!**

"That won't work either! Too cliché!" Ichigo crushed his storyboard and ran a hand through his hair, he brought his pen to his lips, chewing on it hard. He had no idea why he was struggling with ideas all of a sudden, each time a new one would pop into his head, he'd realise it was an overly dramatic storyline or too clichéd.

Ring!

Ichigo glanced at his phone, or rather landline since he found he had no use for a personal phone. He contemplated answering it, reaching his hand for it only to drop the phone back down, ending the call instantly.

"That's better," he sighed, moving back down onto his seat. He spun around a few times, contemplating ideas over and over again. He bit down onto his lip roughly, staring at the view outside of Karakura outside his window. His own orange hair seemed to blend with the shade casted by the setting sun

Ichigo stood from his seat and drew the curtains closed, "That's even better,"

Running a hand through his hair, he chucked the pen onto his messy table and walked towards his kitchen. Making himself a cup of coffee, he enjoyed his apartment, it was spacious and practically designed as though he were in a five star hotel. Ichigo had more than enough money to buy himself a house or three but instead chose to remain in this flat he's had for the past three years after his debut.

Back in school, Ichigo was always one of the popular kids though he chose to remain by himself, he never knew why people flocked to him. He always scored excellently in written essays, his first essay as a senior was so good that they published it in a small book amongst other author's works. It was then that Ichigo decided to continue writing as a way to express himself, since he wasn't one to stand in front of a crowd.

Hence, he always flunked oral presentations. Ichigo swore to himself never to speak about the time he simply walked off stage during his first speech, he broke into sweat and kept having to clear his throat, no matter how much water he drank.

Ultimately resorting to simply chucking his cue cards and walking off stage, failing his oral.

"It wasn't my fault," Ichigo convinced himself as he'd been doing for the past years, taking another sip of his coffee. His sleeveless white shirt revealed his muscled arms and lean torso, with a sigh he placed his cup of coffee back onto the counter and shoved his hands into his pockets. He shifted the colourful fridge magnets and leaned back: **Unimaginative.**

"That's exactly how I feel," he muttered to himself before carelessly shoving the words in a haphazard manner. Picking his cup of coffee he walked towards his table, without taking notice of the cord on the ground Ichigo tripped over it, sending his coffee mug through the air and ultimately landing on his sheets of storyboards and character sketches.

"No, no, no!" Ichigo quickly got to his feet, trying to wipe off as much as he could with his hands. Thank goodness he had no electronic device on the ta-

"Shit!" Ichigo grabbed his already submerged memory stick. It contained all the abstract synopsis he had saved until the inspiration came, that was as far as he knew was contained in it. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a cloth, running back to the table and roughly wiping away at the sheets, it was only later that he realised he was tearing away at the papers.

"Aargh!" Ichigo lifted a drenched, torn and now ink blurred sheet of paper.

"I see, you're having a bad day,"

Ichigo turned around to see the figure of his boss, Yoruichi aka Ms. Publisher. She stood leaned behind his door with an amused smirk plastered on her face.

"When'd you- no, how'd you- never mind," Ichigo groaned turning an upset glance at his messed up papers, he grabbed the mug that was the cause for this and tossed it towards the brick wall, shattering it. "I hated that mug anyway,"

Yoruichi fought the need to laugh by running a hand through her newly dyed purple hair, she rolled her eyes at her best selling writer. "I just came to check on you, see if you've been making any progress lately,"

"Does it look like it?"

"Give it time kid, you always pull through," She said with a small smile, glancing over his shoulder at his desk, "Maybe you need an assistant, get one,"

"I'm fine,"

"If you insist, see ya," she cooed, leaving Ichigo to his devices. Before she even reached the lowest floor she heard a loud 'Shit!' sound from above her and smirked, knowing something had obviously gone wrong.

"That kid really should get an assistant,"

**.**

**.**

"I've just been fired, great," Rukia moaned to herself, folding away her apron and packing it. She released her bun and collapsed onto her bed, her heart beating erratically on how she was going to survive the rest of the months jobless.

"Perfect Rukia, just perfect," she moaned to herself angrily, slapping her forehead, "Now what am I going to do?"

Rukia sat upright, lifting herself from the bed and walked towards the door...

Ichigo grabbed the wet cloth and moved towards the kitchen...

**.**

"Aargh!" Both screamed having stubbed their toes against the door...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

With a tired yawn, Ichigo stretched himself having received a total of three hours sleep. It'd be a miracle if he was able to fall asleep again and thus he was grateful for the few he got already. With a quick glance at his clock, he lazily strolled out of his room.

Opening the blinds, a penetratingly painful light reached his eyes and almost immediately Ichigo closed the blinds, rubbing at his eyes angrily.

"Why do I even bother?" Ichigo sighed and moved away towards his shower to prepare for another day of... nothing.

.

Rukia was already dressed in her casual outfit, her bag and muffin in her hands and CV in her mouth, trying to pull her door shut with her foot. When she eventually managed to get the door closed, the realisation that she had left the key on her table reached her.

"Argh!" she murmured to herself depressively, staring up at the ceiling as though she were questioning why her luck was so bad. With another attempt, she managed to get back in and out of the apartment quickly, she raced down the stairs, greeting Renji, a friend on her way out.

"Okay," Rukia reassured herself with a deep breath as she opened one restaurant door... within seconds she was out again. "I may be desperate... but not that desperate,"

This same process was repeated with the second, third and fourth restaurant she visited to drop of her CV. A depressed sigh escaped her lips, taking a seat on one of the benches within the mall.

Rukia began knocking on her head with her eyes shut, earning strange glances from people walking past her.

Ichigo casted a glance at his side, lingering on the form of the figure that had just taken a seat beside him, he hadn't particularly minded the company of the strange woman beside him... that was until she began making strange whiny noises.

"This isn't even fair, I only broke a few glasses and shouted at a few ungrateful customers," She moaned softly and for a moment Ichigo was torn between whether or not she was crying or laughing. She ran a pale hand through her black her and Ichigo subtly shifted a small distance away from her.

Through his years of experience he had noted that when people began running a hand through their hair, they were getting ready to hit something.

That was stage one.

She clenched her fist...

Stage two.

She bit down on her lip, apparently hard, and her eyes tensed shut.

Stage three.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she hung her head down in utter defeat, Ichigo furrowed his brows in confusion. "I'm so useless," she repeated over and over again, once again Ichigo was torn between whether or not she was crying or laughing.

He'd never seen anyone display two emotions at the same time before.

Ichigo forced himself to look away from the emotionally distraught woman, biting down on his lip in attempt to soothe his growing laughter. She took a deep breath in and abruptly lifted herself to her feet, Ichigo quirked a brow turning his head back to the woman, he watched as her bag slowly tilted downwards.

He shrugged and waited for the bag to fall to the ground, when it did, the contents of the bag scattered on the ground and the woman sighed depressively, lowering herself to the ground to pick up all the stuff that had dropped. She reached out, placing everything back in. Feeling a pang of guilt, Ichigo lowered himself to help her out.

Picking up what seemed to be a make-up purse and a rather empty wallet, he waved it in her direction. It was only then that he got a glance at her full appearance, most prominent were her violet eyes that caught his attention; she smiled wearily at him and took her things.

Ichigo helped her gather most of the rest of her stuff and she filed them back in.

"Thanks," she murmured distractedly, her hands moving quickly in her purse that when she turned back around her hand flung and-

**SLAP! **

... Time seemed to pause as Ichigo and the woman both took in the situation, he still had his head turned in the direction she slapped him to.

"S-Sure," he replied with a gulp, his cheek slowly beginning to form a red hand print and perhaps a small scratch from her nails. His tongue brushed over his teeth before he turned around to the beet red woman.

"I. Am. So sorry," she began, trying her best to hide her face behind her bangs. She tried to take a step away from him when.

"Argh!" Ichigo choked out painfully when she'd stepped on his right foot, his breathe caught in his throat and she immediately lifted her foot.

"Sorry!" She chimed quickly, reaching out to the man who quickly stepped away from her, fearing what she'd do worse. Eventually Rukia resorted to casually walking away with one last apology and a low bow, now she had another event listed under her bucket full of 'most embarrassing moments of her life'. She quickened her pace until she felt she was away from his view.

Ichigo shook out his foot in attempt to relieve the pain, taking a seat back down on the bench, he glanced in the direction she walked, catching only a glimpse of her as she turned into another section.

He shook his head and lifted himself up, walking the opposite direction.

.

.

As soon as Rukia had shut her apartment door behind her, she leaned her back on it, banging her head lightly. Her eyes closed in disappointment.

Ichigo fiddled with the pen in his hands; several book and papers surrounding him, in utter frustration he leaned his head back on his seat and shut his eyes with a deep sigh.

"What am I going to do?" they both whispered, revealing their eyes and glancing out their windows at the setting sun...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Yes Yuzu, I'm fine. No Karin, I won't be coming over for you to kick me. Dad, get off the phone." Ichigo answered whilst making a cup of coffee, no matter how much Ichigo hated answering his phone he knew it was either that or having to answer the door to them.

"I can only listen to one person at a time!" Ichigo shouted, walking back to his study and carefully lowering the mug onto it. He kicked his feet up, leaning his head back into the seat. A deep sigh escaped his lips when they all continued speaking at the same time; a smile crept onto his face as he recalled his teenage memories.

The treasured moments of having his father wake him up with a kick to the face, Karin's bored expressions that she constantly held and Yuzu's ever motherly presence for her age.

"When can we come visit you again?" he heard Yuzu ask innocently.

"Never," Ichigo answered, "Last time you all came over, everything was trashed. Rather I'll come to you,"

A long pause sounded on the other end causing a shiver to run down Ichigo's spine... then all at once they shouted back at him in response. His lips curved into a smirk as he listened to their ranting, normally Ichigo wouldn't admit it but... he did miss them. At first the original idea of him moving out was something he hadn't thought of but after a while he found he needed a place of his own, somewhere he could think without certain 'disturbances'.

Though it did get painfully lonely, it was something Ichigo grew accustomed to. He had to...

"Sorry guys, I'm definitely enjoying this little family conversation," Ichigo began sarcastically reaching to press the 'end call' button, "But, I have a job, so I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Wait-!" Karin shouted, bringing Ichigo to a halt.

"Take care of yourself, Ichigo."

"Is that compassion I hear?" Ichig asked sarcastically.

"Whatever," She whined and ended the call, leaving Ichigo to listen to the bland tone that rung in his ears.

Ichigo smirked, loweringh himself onto his seat, as soon as Ichigo's eyes sat upon the blank sheets of paper in front of him, his entire mood fell. He had to come up with a good storyline, it wasn't as though Yoruichi was putting strain on him about it and yet he felt like he really was under immense pressure.

This type of thing used to come naturally to him, he'd just type away, chapter after chapter and before he knew it, he'd finished a whole book... but now... now he strains even for a title.

"Damnit!" He whispered thrusting his pen away; he banged his fist on the table out of pure frustration.

Writers block.

Words that were foreign to him until a week ago, now he truly understood what it was like, a complete blockage to anything creative. No matter how hard he tried to gain access to any creative ideas, they'd either be incomplete or like previously, too clichéd or overly dramatic.

.

Rukia waited for the electronic door to slide open, she walked into the building briskly, walking towards the apparent secretary. She had a badge with the name 'Nanao' printed on it. The woman hadn't bothered to glance at Rukia, appearing busy so Rukia decided to wait a while...

"Hi! I'm here for the-"

"-I know what you're here for. Second floor, first room. Hope you have your CV."

"Y-Yes," Rukia answered, finding a glimmer of hope within her. She had seen an advertisement in a newspaper for a temporary assistant, having no clue about what this job entailed, Rukia figured she'd take a chance.

How hard could it be, besides-

"I really need this,"

She kept her fingers crossed as she entered the elevator, pressing on the second button-

Times were hard, Rukia knew that better than anyone else and surviving was the only thing on anyone's mind. She had no time to be picky about what job she could or couldn't do, it was nearing the end of the month and there was so much she needed to pay. Rent, personal expenses...

"Why wasn't I born into a rich family?... Why wasn't I born into **any** family?" Rukia muttered to herself, fixing the file that was in her hand.

**Slap!**

Rukia rubbed her now reddened cheek, "Forget about that! Right now, we focus on nailing this!"

I have to...

Once at the second floor and the elevator doors opened, Rukia released a deep breath and stepped out. This floor certainly was stylish yet professional, Rukia was far too preoccupied with the paintings and vases that decorated the professional arena; completely contrasting the dense, smoke smelling, oily restaurant she worked at previously.

Rukia reached a finger to poke at a Cactus, drawing closer and closer...

"Are you coming?" A voice startled Rukia from behind, she immediately turned around guiltily. Casting a low glance at the woman in front of her, she wore a sleeveless orange shirt and dressed in black pants. Her golden orbs appeared to penetrate right through Rukia sending chills down her spine, she brushed a strand of hair behind her head before nodding politely.

"Well then, come along," The woman ushered with a smile, walking back into her office. Rukia took a breath in and exhaled deeply.

"I can do this," She repeated to herself.

Her office was spacious, having a long couch at the corner and a tall shelf filled with tons of books. Her table was filled with files and paperwork, and only had one photo frame, though Rukia couldn't see the picture from where she sat. The woman kicked her feet up on her table, landing them on the pages.

"I-I b-brought my-"

The woman extended a hand towards Rukia, evidently wanting the file in her hands. Rukia gave it to her hesitantly, watching as the woman flapped through.

"You have no experience as a PA, do you?"

"W-Well no, but I'm open to learning!"

The woman remained silent for a long period, she smirked, giving Rukia a chance to rethink, why in her desperation that she had to shout in enthusiasm at the woman. Kneading the back of her neck, Rukia casted her gaze to her feet, suddenly finding her toes highly interesting.

"Pick your head up," the woman commanded, still keeping her gaze on the CV in front of her. Rukia bolted upright, twiddling her thumbs with a nervous smile on her face. "If you want this job, you'll have to grow some backbone,"

"Y-Yes,"

"You're smart, why didn't you go to university?"

"Um w-well..."

"I see, no need to answer," the woman chuckled lightly, closing the file and sliding it over to Rukia as though she weren't interested in it any further. "We're done,"

Rukia's eyes widened, it had been less than ten minutes and that's it! What? Did she do something wrong? All she'd done was sit down half the time.

"B-But-"

The woman lifted her feet, yanking open a drawer and pulling out a notepad and pen. She pushed them towards Rukia. "You aren't necessarily the best of the bunch... but, I'll give you a chance, let's just hope **he** will too,"

Rukia swallowed the lump in her throat, biting back the tears. She wanted to reach over the woman and hug her tightly but fought against it due to her better judgement. It had been a long while since someone ever showed such kindness upon her, so humbling herself and setting her pride aside she accepted.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, do you know him?"

Rukia processed the name a while, "N-No,"

"Well then, you're going to meet him," the woman smiled, extending her hand once more, Rukia reached out to it in a warm shake. "Call me Yoruichi Shihoin,"

"Rukia Kuchiki,"

.

Rukia maintained her silence through the entire drive, staring blankly out of the window. Wondering who it was she was going to work for, the way Ms Yoruichi described him made him seem sort of charming, someone whose company she'd enjoy very much.

"We're here," Yoruichi informed, climbing out of the car, Rukia followed behind her like a lost puppy gazing around the fancy apartment.

They took the elevator upstairs and as soon as they got to their desired level, walked towards a certain door with the numbers '203' printed above the wooden door. Yoruichi reached a hand to the knob, twisting it.

"Shouldn't we knock?"

"Nope," she replied without even taking the time out to think. Shoving the door open, they were met by a long trail of dominos, all standing upright. The blinds in the room were opened, giving spotlight to the study table behind. Rukia tried her hardest not to touch any of the dominos in fear they might come crashing down one after the other.

"Kurosaki!" Yoruichi shouted, effortlessly dodging the domino pieces, they walked all the way to the stairs leading up to the dining room where a man sat on the ground carefully placing another domino piece behind the one in front of it.

Rukia was too preoccupied jumping when her foot tipped one of the dominos, silently she prayed that they wouldn't-

-and one by one they knocked each other to the ground, Rukia watched this, her eyes widening with each domino that fell...

Turning around nervously to Yoruichi, she glanced at the orange haired man who dropped the last domino he had in his hands, apparently in shock.

"For the first time in my life..." Ichigo began, turning his head around towards them, "...I'm-"

He paused taking in the form of the woman besides Yoruichi, his pupils shrinking in size, when he recalled sighting her. Rukia tilted her head to the side with widened eyes.

Both Rukia and Ichigo's lips parted, "You!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Yoruichi switched her gaze from Ichigo to Rukia and back to Ichigo, with a quirked brow she moved her hand to her hip. "You know each other?"

"Uh... well..." Rukia began with a lowered head.

"No," Ichigo scowled and turned back to his fallen dominos. An aggravated groan escaped his lips as he lifted his pieces and began again. "What do you want here anyway? I really should start locking my door,"

"Remember when I told you, you'd need to get an assistant?" Yoruichi began, staring down at her manicured nails.

"Remember when I told, I'm fine?" Ichigo countered, tilting his head to gaze at Yoruichi. For a split second he glanced at the woman who stood a foot behind Yoruichi, she had her head down covering her eyes.

"And I've found someone to be able to help you out, Rukia Kuchiki is her name," Yoruichi responded, ignoring Ichigo's response, the girl lifted her head towards Ichigo. No emotion present on her face, she nodded her head slightly in his direction. "And she's enthusiastic about learning how to write,"

Rukia sharply lifted her gaze towards Yoruichi, she hadn't said anything about learning to write books. Yoruichi winked down at her in response.

"Really?" Ichigo replied turning around, "I'm not good at teaching people stuff,"

"I'll watch!... and learn..." Rukia finally spoke.

Yoruichi glanced down at her planner then at her watch, "Look, I'll leave you two to discuss this, I have to run." She gently brushed Rukia's shoulders, "Good luck,"

With a loud shout towards Ichigo, she left in a rush...

.

.

... Awkward.

Rukia sweat dropped, having stood in the same position for the past five minutes. She gulped still staring at the back of the man named Ichigo. She raised a hand to slap her forehead as she remembered how she practically assaulted him.

"I'm such an idiot!" she vocalised in a whisper. Ichigo casted a glance back at the woman who stood in her spot, she had her hand pressed on her forehead and appeared to be scolding herself.

"I thought you had left already," he said to her, he watched as she slowly lifted her violet orbs towards him. Her small stature made him think of one of the characters he had previously designed but couldn't find any more to do with her so he chucked the idea.

"Look, I'm sorry about slapping you and stepping on your foot." She said to him. "So please don't fire me on my first day,"

Ichigo quirked a brow, exhaling deeply as he rose to his feet. He gently brushed passed her as he made his way to a nearby shelf; she gulped as he hadn't bothered to take even one glance at her.

He grabbed one book and tossed it to her feet; he hovered over several others until he picked out four more. One by one he piled them in her arms.

"I want a summary of one chapter of one book every day," Ichigo told her, Rukia's eyes widened as she glanced down at the encyclopaedia sized books currently in her hands.

"B-But, just reading one page would take me forever!" she retorted as she followed Ichigo in his stroll to his kitchen. He glanced at her with a smirk before moving to his cupboards to make coffee, he prepared two cups.

Walking up to her, Ichigo smirked as she struggled to carry the thick books. "Here," he said, placing the cup on top of the stack currently in her hands. He chuckled as she scowled at him, he sipped his coffee, moving towards his table and sat his mug down.

"And when you're finished summarising the chapters... fix my dominos,"

Rukia stared down at the long trail of probably 200+ dominos that lay flat on the ground; she gulped as she sat her thick books on the nearest table closest to the couch.

"I'll expect three pages, back to back as a summary," he said, sipping at his coffee.

"If I didn't need this job, I would have thrown one of these books in your face," Rukia muttered under her breath through gritted teeth.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she mumbled as she took a pen and paper, she pulled one of the textbooks to her lap as she turned to page one.

**Scrunch!**

The sound of crushed paper reached her ears and Rukia tilted her head towards Ichigo's direction, noticing he was biting down on the pencil in his hand. He appeared to be mumbling something incoherent as he frowned deeply, his brown eyes maintained absolute focus on the work in front of him.

He groaned in frustration before typing away at his computer.

Realising she was staring far too long, she turned her attention towards the frames on the walls, there was only three pictures that hung. Once was with two girls and one older male, presumably his father, they all smiled whilst Ichigo scowled, his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his high school pants and glasses set securely over his nose.

Her eyes drifted to the next picture where he was surrounded by four other people; once again he was the only one not smiling.

The last picture that hung was that of a woman with a little boy in her arms, the boy clung onto the woman's clothing with a bright smile on his face. The woman smiled down at the boy lovingly, his brown orbs gleaming with happiness.

She turned her head towards Ichigo, typing away and noticed the deep frown he had currently. Pulling the mug to her lips, she took a small sip so as to not burn her tongue. Brushing a strand of hair behind her head, she picked her pen up, Ichigo groaned leaving his laptop, grabbing his pen and tapping it against the pages.

They both sighed deeply as they continued tapping their pens against the sheets in front of them.

Ichigo lifted his gaze towards the woman, clearly focused on what she was doing. He noticed how she'd fiddle with her fingers whenever she appeared confused. Ichigo spun his seat around to avoid glaring at her any further and was surprised to find it was raining. A little thunder sounded within the distance as the gray clouds covered most of the area.

He raised a hand towards his cheek, remembering the manner in which she slapped him. A small chuckled escaped his lips, torturing her would be fun besides who knows? She might actually learn something.

Ichigo spun his seat around once more to find she was standing at his bookshelf, her fingers gently brushing over the covers as she searched. "You don't have any of your own books,"

"No, I wrote them, why would I need a copy?"

"That's stupid," she mumbled incoherently, brushing her fingers over the books.

"Don't you have a summary to do?"

She turned around towards Ichigo with a brief smirk, "It's on your table, and it's been there for a while,"

Ichigo looked down to find four pages, one page more than he had asked, with a disbelieving frown he lifted the pages and spun around in his seat, skimming through the work. He had to admit, she had some potential... some.

"Well you're pretty-" Ichigo's eyes widened when he caught sight of her reaching up for one of the books on the shelf, she balanced on her toes. Ichigo shook his head knowing what the outcome of this would be-

-and true to his word, he watched as several of the books on the shelf she was reaching for came crashing down. She landed on the ground, surrounded by a few of the books.

"I'll fix that!" she chimed nervously, quickly getting up to her feet and dusting herself.

"Yoruichi must've lost her mind..." Ichigo whispered with widened eyes as he watched her grab book after book to shove back into its respective shelf.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ichigo jogged down the empty road, his white shirt soaked with perspiration and feet burning with each step he took. He was glad the sun wasn't as harsh as it normally was during the day, he stopped a moment to take a sip from his water bottle. Gasping for breath he bent over, pressing his palms to his knees as he bought time to catch his breath.

"It is him-"

"I can't believe it!"

Ichigo furrowed his brows as the sound of excited, whispering voices reached his ears, he stood upright, taking in the form of two women staring directly at him then pausing to giggle excitedly with beet red faces. It took a while for both of them to gain courage but when they did, they walked over to him also dressed in gym clothing.

"Oh my, he looks so much better in person!" One clasped a hand to her mouth excitedly, "Mr Kurosaki, would you mind giving us an autograph?" both pleaded with grins on their faces.

"A-Alright," Ichigo conceded, internally groaning, it was barely seven in the morning and all he wanted was a peaceful jog. He returned their notebooks and before he could walk away, one placed a hand to his chest, a warm smile on her face.

"How about a picture too? Please! We're your biggest fans!"

"S-Sure," Ichigo agreed and before he knew it he was sandwiched between two women who seemed to enjoy intruding in his personal bubble. She held her camera out and took the picture, she quickly glanced over it then smiled.

"Thanks!"

Ichigo nodded and couldn't wait until he walked away to continue his jog, within the back he heard one of the women he had just taken a picture with mutter something along the lines of; "I can't believe we just met Kurosaki Ichigo!"

Ichigo smirked as once again his feet made friction with the surface beneath him; he had barely gotten any sleep the previous night. So he decided to stop by a cafe and order his regular coffee, it was his form of keeping his energy levels up.

"Hi, can I have a regular black coffee." Ichigo told the waitress who nodded quickly, apparently having lost use of her tongue at the sight of him. She had tried to offer him other items on the menu but Ichigo remained with his simple coffee and she departed to the kitchen. Within minutes she was back, bearing his 'breakfast', setting the cup gently before him. She bowed, and blushed madly when Ichigo bowed his head similarly in thanks.

He grabbed one of the sugar sachets and emptied it into his cup, stirring until it was dissolved. He brought the cup to his lips, taking a sip. Ichigo gulped down the contents unappreciatively, remembering why he chose to learn how to make his own coffee seeing as though no one could make it the way he liked it.

"You know, you really shouldn't always be drinking coffee," Ichigo heard a familiar voice call from behind him, he tilted his head backwards and found a smirk come to his face.

"Why is it that everywhere I go, someone is bound to recognise me?" His smirk grew wider, "Tatsuki..."

The karate champion smiled in his direction, walking to take a seat besides her old friend.

.

Rukia stood outside her boss's apartment, her bag clutched over her shoulder. She had quickly brushed her hair haphazardly this morning in fear of being late, she grabbed what was first in her cupboard which apparently was her jeans and black shirt. She glanced down at her watch then back at the elevator.

She groaned aloud, realising he was over an hour late yet he had told her to be here at 08:00 sharp.

"Hypocrite," she muttered to herself with a snort. A cold breeze filled her area, causing goose bumps to form over her flesh as she waited 'patiently'. The sky had begun to darken, showering light drizzle. "Where is this man?!" she questioned through gritted teeth as she shifted side to side in attempt to warm herself up.

Finally the sound of the elevator reaching its designated point reached her ears, and lo and behold, Ichigo Kurosaki stepped out. He glanced at Rukia for a brief moment before moving towards his door, he twisted the knob open and turned his head back in her direction.

"I-I-"

"Whatever you say," he stopped her and entered the house, she followed behind him.

"But it's not like I could just enter without your permission..." she mumbled aloud as she shut his door behind her. She moved to the couch and ripped out her notebook.

"Make yourself comfortable," Ichigo told her before tossing his jacket on the couch, missing her body by a centimetre. She glanced once at the sweaty clothing and cringed her face, picking the jacket with two fingers she moved to place it far away from her. She then heard the sound of a shower running.

"I might as well make some coffee while he's in," she whispered and lifted herself, walking towards the kitchen. She boiled water and set rummaging his cupboards, slamming one after the other open.

Ichigo lazily left one towel over his head and kept another wrapped around his waist as he entered his room, he heard the sound of his kettle boiling water. Wondering what she was doing but chose not to bother himself any further as he got dressed.

He walked back into study, ignoring her in the kitchen. "Oh Mr Kurosaki!" she called bringing him to a stop.

"Here," she smiled and reached a hand to give him the cup in her hands. Ichigo glanced down at it sceptically then took it into his hands. He raised the mug to his lips and drank a bit of the contents; he brought his eyes to look back down at her, a smile on his face...

...he spat the coffee back into the cup and his smile dropped.

"Are you trying to poison me?" He questioned, placing his mug onto a coffee table and walked towards his study. Rukia took a sip from her own cup and furrowed her brows.

"It's not that bad,"

Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked over to his study, collapsing tiredly on his seat, he rested his head on his raised palm as he tapped on the laptop mouse, opening document after document.

He turned around with a frown on his face as he reached for another file at the end of the desk, paging through it hastily then moving back to his laptop and typing away. Rukia stood in place as she watched him work, combing a hand through his orange hair.

Ichigo massaged his temples, inhaling and exhaling deeply, he lifted his gaze to the woman that stood in her place. He met her violet eyes and noted how quickly she turned away.

"Don't you have something to do?" Ichigo questioned, leaning back into his seat.

Taking it as a rhetorical question, Rukia moved to her textbooks and turned to chapter two, beginning her summary. With a shake of his head, Ichigo continued his work from where he had left off. Rukia glanced at her coffee mug that stood on the coffee mug, a small distance away.

"Hey, pass me the file over there." Ichigo pointed, not bothering to look at her as he maintained focus of the screen in front of him, simply referring to the small shelf beneath the coffee table. Rukia quickly obliged and stood from her spot, grabbing her coffee mug and one of the files.

Rukia made her way to her boss, taking a sip from her now lukewarm coffee, unfortunately she didn't notice the cord STILL lying on the ground and as fate would have it, Rukia tripped over the wire. The file at hand hit Ichigo square in the face and the contents of her mug splatter onto the window as Ichigo tumbled backwards to the ground, chair and all.

"M-Mr K-Kurosaki..." Rukia lifted her head as she lifted herself from the wooden floor. "...Are you okay?"

"Blissful." Ichigo responded sarcastically, rubbing the back of his head as he lifted himself and his seat. He glanced at his coffee stained window, watching as the liquid ran down his screen with the rain that poured outside as well. "I will not get angry..." Ichigo whispered with shut eyes to himself.

"Mr K-Kurosaki?"

"What?" Ichigo questioned, turning around, he found himself growing highly uncomfortable with the guilty expression plastered on her face. He followed her eyes to the coffee smudged paperwork in front of him.

Once more Ichigo inhaled and exhaled deeply, "I will not get angry..."

"Mr K-Kurosaki?"

Ichigo lifted his auburn gaze to her as she held the handle of his once whole mug that was now broken into tiny pieces on the floor. Ichigo glanced up at her with widened eyes...

How is it humanly possible for one person-

"What are you?"

"I can fix it." Rukia quickly told him before running into the kitchen and fetching two clothes and a broom, she wiped the coffee from his window away as he pondered what type of assistant she was. Rukia ran up and down his apartment with shards of glass in her hands.

"What did Yoruichi sign me up for?" Ichigo questioned himself before tiredly collapsing into his seat, at this rate he'd never get his next book done. As Ichigo continued to comprehend the situation he was in, Rukia stood in front of the heater with some pages of his file. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I used to do this in school when my books would get wet, it works like a charm."

Knowing this girl, she'd probably burn all of them. Ichigo ran towards her, reaching out for the sheets.

"Hold on, they're almost done, just g-gimme a second!" Rukia enunciated, trying to push Ichigo away.

"They're fine, just hand them over!"

Rukia held them further forward towards the heater and in a flash, Ichigo's eyes widened.

Rukia felt her hand grow warmer and warmer... turning around to see the burning pages in her hands. Ichigo grabbed them from her and automatically ran to the kitchen with them, throwing them in the sink and running the water.

Soon after the tap stopped running, a loud moan sounded and then a bang and finally Ichigo peeked out of the kitchen, he gulped visibly, leaning his head against the doorway. He lifted a penetrating glare towards Rukia who suddenly found that the ceiling design grew more and more interesting with each passing second.

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he walked passed her, in his attempt to remain calm.

"Mr Kurosaki is there something I can help wi-" Rukia began as she tried to reach for Ichigo.

"No! I mean- no- you just-" He glanced around quickly jumping away with an outstretched hand to keep the distance between them. "-you just do your summaries. I'll be fine."

"Oh, alright." Rukia agreed before spotting the window, it sure was a little warm in the place. A cool breeze would be nice...

Making her way to the window, she pushed the latch open and a strong breeze rushed in, blowing her hair, cooling over her skin, relaxing her... and inadvertently blowing the unattached sheets Ichigo had on his study away.

Ichigo recalled his own words, choosing to ignore the emotions running through him. One human could turn his entire place upside down, what more could she do?

**Make yourself comfortable...**


	6. Chapter 6

Soft music played within the warmly light restaurant, elegantly designed and furnished. Each table held a beautiful centre piece, the entire place oozed intimacy. Ichigo glanced from left to right, feeling a little out of place, as everyone gathered in the room dressed in a more sophisticated manner. Considering it was evening and a reputable restaurant, not the type of place you'd assume to find someone dressed in baggy jeans, a white vest and black blazer.

Ichigo scouted the area only to find a waving hand, with a forced smile; Ichigo marched over to the woman seated at the table. Choosing to ignore the snobbish stares he received, he pulled out his seat and settled comfortably across the woman.

"Thanks for coming, it's been a while since-" the woman began.

"May I take your order ma'am? Sir?" A waiter questioned, Ichigo barely casted a gaze at the man beside him as he took in Orihime's form, her hair framed her perfectly. She appeared almost perfect, the clothes she wore flattered her figure and the mature look she had really worked well for her.

Noticing that he was staring too long, Ichigo casted a smile to the waiter, "Don't worry, we won't be long, whiskey-no ice, thanks."

Orihime turned her gaze towards Ichigo astonishedly, she shut the menu in front of her and smiled beautifully at the waiter. "A glass of your best red wine for me please."

"Of course," He replied, bowing lightly, he looked over Ichigo then at Orihime and shook his head.

What's that supposed to mean?

"So..." Ichigo began awkwardly, glancing around. Orihime watched this action and couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips, a small chuckle sounded and Ichigo cocked his head in her direction, wondering what the source for her amusement was.

"It's good to see you again... Ichigo..." Orihime softly told him, reaching to place her soft hand over his in a friendly gesture. Ichigo frowned slightly at the warmth of her hand as he glanced down at it for a while before slowly and gently drawing his hand away from beneath hers.

"I'm still undecided about that... I hadn't planned on coming but I figured 'what the hell, I'm bored anyway'." Ichigo raised his shoulders apathetically.

The waiter came back, bearing their drinks; he slowly placed them on the table and parted from them once again. Ichigo spun his glass slowly as Orihime took an elegant sip from her wine.

"Orihime..." Ichigo began quietly, it was no secret to the both of them that their relationship was a total and utter fail.

"**Ichigo, I want you to pick right now, either me or... this." Orihime questioned t****oss****ing one of the file****s**** on Ichigo's table aside. With not so much as a glance at her, Ichigo continued to type away, this was his second book and he was working really hard on it and thus he didn't have time for meaningless disturbances.**

"**Ichigo!"**

"**What?" He questioned with an annoyed tone, still typing away, maintaining all focus on the laptop in front of him.**

"**I think I've had enough, you push me away far too Ichigo and there's only so much I can take. I'm not doing this anymore."**

**Ichigo continued to type away, completely blocking her out, with her fists clenched around the table, Orihime gritted her teeth. Casting her eyes at her handbag and car keys.**

**BANG!**

**Ichigo's apartment door slammed shut as Orihime made her exit; Ichigo looked away from his laptop towards the door and with no more than a blink, turned back to his computer. Having made the decision not to go after her, he allowed himself get consumed by the silence.**

Out of politeness, Ichigo aided Orihime from her seat having paid the bill since their night of awkward, friendly conversation was over. He walked Orihime out and waited as a valet brought her car around.

"See ya..." Ichigo smiled at her, kneading the back of his neck, Orihime bit down on her lip as though she were debating with herself.

"Ichigo?"

"Yea- oof!" he paused when she grabbed onto him, drawing him into an embrace. Her arms embraced him welcomingly as she rested her head close to his heart, the smile he once had on his face disappeared.

"Bye Ichigo..."

He stood watching as Orihime drove off, a deep sigh escaped his lips as he shoved his hands further into his pockets and hunched his back in attempt to warm up. Step after step, Ichigo paced his way back to his apartment. He had considered driving but the restaurant was barely a few streets away therefore rendering driving all the way there pointless. The streetlights provided the only source of lighting on the roads as the cars drove passed.

Ichigo crashed onto his bed with a loud groan, facing the ceiling; he traced the designs with his eyes repeatedly. It took a long while before he tossed himself onto his side, allowing the silence of the room to engulf him and sooner than later he was drawn into sleep...

.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

Ichigo turned over, mumbling angrily in his sleep, bringing his pillow over his head.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

"Go-away..." he slurred, turning once more. Unfortunately he rolled off the bed and collapsed onto the floor, with a loud thud.

**Knock.**

**Kno-**

"What?!" Ichigo whipped his door open.

"Mr- K-Kurosaki..." Rukia held her fist in the air where she had tapped the door, her eyes were wide in fright as she gazed at her boss... who was apparently still dressed in the previous days clothing.

"I should've known..." Ichigo muttered to himself, gently bashing his head against the door.

"Can I come in?" she questioned with a confused expression plastered on her face. Ichigo lifted his head to her and narrowed his eyes.

"No."

"What?"

"No... I'm giving you the day off. Take it." Ichigo briefly told her before slamming the door.

"But Mr. Kurosaki-" she began but stopped when she received no reply, a loud sigh escaped her lips as she pouted. "Least he could've done was tell me in advance..."

She marched up to the elevator and pressed the button, she rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited. Her hands fiddled with the strap of her bag continuously until the elevator 'ding' pulled her from her trance; she quickly stepped aside for the person that came out.

"Thank you." The woman smiled as she passed Rukia.

"Pleasure." She responded and got in, Rukia quickly pressed the button to the first floor of the building, she furrowed her brows as she watched the woman walk towards- towards-

-Mr. Kurosaki's place!

Just before Rukia was to speak, the elevator doors shut on her. A loud sigh escaped her lips as she leaned against the side of the elevator... "Who would've thought..." She ran a hand through her hair, "...Any woman could deal with a man like that?"


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo shut his apartment door, and with a sigh, walked towards the lift. He pressed the button to the first floor and waited for the doors to shut. Once again, it was raining and the sky was dull, people were scarce.

Ichigo greeted those that greeted him as he got downstairs, bowing his head and politely smiling at them in response. Ichigo pulled the transparent door open and moved out, taking a step outside the vicinity.

"Mr Kurosaki!" He heard that familiar, annoying, **destructive** voice and knew full well who it belonged to.

"Rukia..." he whispered depressively, tilting his head in her direction, she wiped off the bit of rain that dripped down her forehead with the back of her sleeve. She panted heavily, clear indication that she ran all the way here. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm your assistant and-"

"Assistant?" Ichigo furrowed his brows with a sarcastic laugh, erupting from his lips, "You barely assist with anything, everything you do goes wrong... you're an amateur and that's all you'll ever be."

Ichigo was shocked at how blunt he sounded, he held no intention of being so hard, yet maintained a passive expression on his face so as to not give off any illusion that he actually felt sympathy.

Rukia opened her mouth to speak but quietened, hanging her head down.

Ichigo sighed and called on a cab, he opened the door, looking back at the defeated girl. With a sigh, Ichigo climbed into the car and shut the door.

Rukia watched the cab through the corner of her eyes, getting watered down by the rain.

"**... You're an amateur and that's all you'll ever be." **

The car veered onto the road as her boss journeyed away; she clenched her fists tightly at her sides.

"Mr Kurosaki!" she ran into the rain, chasing the cab. Her hair dampened, she stood right in front of the car as it made a skidding sound due to the sudden halt. The driver held a confused look on his face, seeing this random woman stop straight in front of his car.

She ran over to the side window, knocking on it to gain Ichigo's attention. Most of her clothing was wet, including the bag that hung over her shoulder. With a deep sigh, Ichigo winded the window down.

"What?"

"Mr Kurosaki, please, just give me a chance." She clasped her hands in a prayer like motion, "Sure I may screw up from time to time but who doesn't? Right?"

"You're right; people do screw up from time to time." Ichigo smiled at her, "but I don't plan on having you as my assistant any further." His smile dropped as he winded the window up, Rukia pressed her hand on the window.

"Mr Kurosaki!"

"What now?!" he winded the window down.

"I may be an amateur for now but- but-!" She shouted, water splashed on Ichigo's face as more rain poured over her face, "-but- I'm telling you now that I'm the best assistant you will ever have! And you'd be an idiot not to rehire me!"

Ichigo stared at the woman, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. "An idiot?"

Rukia gulped, drawing her hands away from the glass window. "Y-Yes."

A broad smirk grazed Ichigo's face; he turned away from her, winding up the window. She saw his lips move and just as soon, the car drove off.

"M-Mr Kurosaki-!" She shouted, still standing on the empty road, watching the car go off, "-Does that mean I can come back?" More rain poured over her already deeply dampened hair, Rukia wiped the water from her brow with her wet sleeve. A depressive sigh escaped her lips and she hung her head.

.

"Come on, cheer up a little!" Rukia's close friend Renji, collapsed onto his couch, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him. "How about you make yourself useful and toss me a beer back there!"

"You have hands and feet- use 'em." Rukia retorted from behind the counter. Renji tossed his head back with a smirk; Rukia sighed and reached into his fridge. She threw the can in his direction and sighed once more, gently banging her head on the counter.

"I know I can be a little ditzy-"

"-Disastrously clumsy." Renji gulped down, still staring at the television in front of him.

"-But in a space of four days! I mean that's not humanly possible-!"

"-Not until today." Renji replied lazily, Rukia furrowed her brows at the back of his head. She reached for a pan that hung on the wall, vigorously fighting the temptation to knock him out.

Ring!

Rukia snapped to the phone that rung, Renji looked at the caller ID and quickly leapt off his seat, throwing the cushions off and sliding to pick it up.

"Hello?"

Rukia pouted her lips, "So he'll bolt for someone else who calls him yet it takes forever for him to answer when I call..."

"I'll be a little busy tomorrow so-" Renji stopped and met Rukia's gaze; he smirked evilly and turned his back on her. "-So I'll be sure to make a plan."

He turned over his shoulder, glancing at the woman behind him. She smirked coyly, "Hey Renji, who're you speaking to?" She purred loudly... deliberately.

Renji placed a finger to his lip, gesturing her to be quiet but her smirk only grew wider. "Oh, come on Renji!..." She drew herself closer and closer, playing with his shirt buttons.

'I will kill you' Renji mouthed, staring down at the woman. She only stared up at him, ready to say more.

"So Renji-" Quickly he clasped a hand over her lips, hugging her tightly to his chest.

"Something wrong? No, nothing's **wrong** here." Renji spoke into the device at his ear, as he tried to hold the fighting Rukia tighter towards his chest.

"Mmmh mh!" She fought, trying to punch him.

"-Sure thing, I'll see you then. Bye." Renji smiled and hung up, "What were you saying?"

Finally getting a breath of air, she hit Renji on the stomach, "I said, 'I can't breathe'."

Renji smirked, walking right passed her, and he slid onto his couch with a yawn. Absentmindedly flipping from channel to channel. "Hey, could you pass me the pizza in the fridge?"

"Get it yourself!" Rukia grabbed her bag and a cushion, hitting Renji with the item and walking towards the door. "See ya."

With a bang, she sighed, walking up the flight of stairs to her room. She ran a hand through her hair, fighting back the tears that threatened to develop in her eyes.

She reached into her bag for her keys, and watched as her sight blurred due to the tears that now covered her vision. She raised her head with a forced smile to bite back the tears as she unlocked the door.

Tiredly, she walked to her balcony. Staring at the bright moon, she ran a hand through her hair repeatedly, "What am I going to do?"

.

Ichigo stared out of his window, still seated at his study; once again he had managed a total of nothing done today. His thoughts ran all over the place and never settled.

"**I may be an amateur for now but- but-!" Water splashed on Rukia's face as more rain poured, her violet eyes held pure determination within them as Ichigo watched her fists clench around the glass window, "-but- I'm telling you now that I'm the best assistant you will ever have! And you'd be an idiot not to rehire me!"**

Ichigo released a deep breath whilst a small laugh escaped his lips, "I guess, she's not that weak willed after all..."


	8. Chapter 8

Rukia stared at her bowl of cereal, lifting another spoonful to her lips and chewing. The crunching sound echoed within the small apartment. A long sigh escaped her lips as she reached her fridge for more milk; she emptied the last of the milk into her bowl and chewed more spoonfuls.

It would definitely be a long day, a long jobless day. For most of the night, her thoughts kept running back to how she would make it and how she'd survive.

Well, she had Renji for the survive bit but still... her pride simply wouldn't let her sponge off others.

Rukia cleaned her bowl and placed it on the rack to dry. Grabbing another bag considering her previous one was wet and drying outside, a silent sigh escaped her lips as she locked her door behind herself.

Rukia pounded her head on the back of the door as she scheduled the time she had today. "First I'll have to go to-"

Ring!

"Who's this?" Rukia pondered, with a slight curve of her brow, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, you were supposed to be here close to an hour ago. Where are you?"

"M-Mr K-Kurosaki, is this you?"

"No, it's the man on the moon. Get over here, now, I'm giving you less than thirty minutes." With those simple words, he hung up abruptly.

"What's wrong with this man? Wait- how did he get my number in the first place?" Rukia spoke to the phone; with a pout, she shoved her phone back into her bag. Glancing down at her watch, her eyes widened.

"I gotta get going!"

.

Knock

Knock

Rukia waited a moment, she expected to be on the receiving end of his scolding as soon as the door opened, it hardly helped that she already appeared fidgety. Her heart skipped to her throat when the door slowly pushed open.

"Mr Kurosaki!" Rukia held her head in a low bow. Ichigo rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in. He marched over to his study, unconsciously still dragging her behind himself, Rukia couldn't help the shocked tint that rose to her cheeks as she stared at his hand wrapped around her wrist.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"What?"

"My wrist, please?"

Ichigo stopped in his place and turned back, looking down at his own hand that covered the woman's wrist. He immediately let go and lifted his gaze to her before turning back to his table, he picked up two files and placed them in her arms.

"You say I'm a fool not to take you back-"

"Well I-" Rukia turned her head away in embarrassment, resisting the urge to knead the back of her neck.

"-Prove to me that you aren't a ditzy mess. These two contain my previous synopses that I found no use to progress on; I want you to expand on these ideas. You'll use the same plotline but... I want a twist to each. I don't care how or what you do just do it."

"But what about the summaries?"

"Forget that, I was trying to keep you preoccupied."

Rukia pouted, fighting the ever growing scowl that was to form on her face. She nodded her head to Ichigo and moved back to the couch, placing the files on the table and creating proper work space for herself whilst Ichigo busied himself with his book.

"Hey?"

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"Make me a cup of coffee."

"Make it yourse- yes, Mr Kurosaki." Rukia smiled and quickly stood from her seat, moving towards the kitchen. She carefully boiled the water, pulling out one of the white mugs; she grabbed sugar and coffee from the cupboard.

"Here Mr Kurosaki," Rukia smiled, setting the mug on the table. Ichigo nodded his thanks as he stared intently at his screen, Rukia moved back to the couch to begin her work, her gaze lifted when Ichigo reached for his coffee and took a sip.

Within the next moment, he spat the liquid back into the cup and shoved the cup back onto the table, Rukia's mouth dropped slightly and her pencil fell to the ground.

"I took the time out to make that, the least you could do is swallow, jerk." Rukia whispered as she picked the pencil up.

Ichigo groaned when he found no inspiration at all, he leaned his head back and spun in his seat, knocking his pencil against his head. He caught sight of Rukia, seemingly concentrating hard as she frowned at the paper in front of her. He smirked before spinning in his chair once more.

Ring!

Rukia turned her head to her bag, quickly reaching for the item that rang within it, she held the phone to her ear, trying in her hardest to avoid Ichigo's gaze.

"What? - You need what?!-" she spoke, turning her back even further on Ichigo, "Are you an idiot?!- Fine- you have my spare key, you get in and out in less than a second do you- No! You cannot have my cereal, there's no milk to go with it anyway!" She whispered loudly to the amusement of Ichigo, who withheld his laughter at the girl's change of expression with each sentence she uttered.

"I have to go- do not touch my cereal. Bye." she spoke and quickly hung up, shoving her phone into her bag, she smiled nervously in Ichigo's direction before moving back to her work.

Close to five minutes passed by, in absolute silence, with exception to the constant ticking of the clock that hung on the wall. Rukia tilted her head at the abnormal silence; normally he'd at least be scribbling down or tapping something on the table, or even spinning in his chair.

She noticed his head rested on his arms that folded on the table, his messy orange hair was all that could be seen. His back rose and fell at a slow pace.

"He's sleeping." Rukia furrowed her brows, tilting her head. She settled the file and paper in front of her, dropping the pencil in her hands. She moved over to him, reaching her hand to shake him awake, only to stop herself.

Her violet eyes were drawn to the three framed images that hung on the wall, out of the three images, Rukia was drawn to only two of them: One was with two girls and one older male, presumably his father, they all smiled whilst Ichigo scowled, his hands shoved deeply into his pockets and glasses set securely over his nose.

The last picture that hung was that of a woman with a little boy in her arms, the boy clung onto the woman's clothing with a bright smile on his face. The woman smiled down at the boy lovingly, his brown orbs gleaming with happiness.

Rukia never thought about it much but the only picture she owns of herself as a child was the image that was attached to her file at the adoptive agency. Turning her head away as though she had been burned, Rukia blinked several times and tossed her head back. Choosing to allow Ichigo to sleep a while.

She settled on the couch, her black hair covering her face as she continued to scribble silently on the sheet in front of her.

The hardest stage in her life had to be the years before high school. Kids never deliberately poked fun at her for not having parents; it was the little things they'd say that would pain the most. Things such as: "What did your mommy make you for lunch today?" or "My daddy's teaching me how to ride my bike today!"

It was then that Rukia learnt how to pull her own facade, despite the emotional turmoil she was going through, she managed to keep a brave smile. Saving her tears for her pillow at midnight, when she knew Renji, who slept in the bunk above her, was fast asleep.

It was later that she decided that tears would never aid her, that she decided to spend her hours more constructively. She'd read her library books, each day she became better and better, finding brothers and sisters in the characters she read about.

Though it didn't help the loneliness she felt, when she'd shut the book, having finished it.

.

Ichigo stared at the silent girl, half of him expected to hear her apologising for one thing or another. With a long stretch, he stood from his seat, walking across the silent girl and into the kitchen. The rattling of keys could be heard and when he reappeared, he swung the set of keys he had in his hands around.

"Hey?" Ichigo called out.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"I'm hungry, let's go." Ichigo said plainly, and walked towards the door. Astonished, Rukia quickly grabbed her bag. For crying out loud, this man is so abrupt!

Ichigo was already out the door and waiting at the lift for Rukia, he shook his head at her as he held the doors open. Once inside, he pressed the button to the lowest flow and they both waited in silence, Rukia choosing to stare around her area and Ichigo remaining stoic.

A sigh of relief rushed over Rukia as the sound of the elevator reaching its floor, came to her ear. The parking area was a little dim but you could still see, Rukia followed behind Ichigo as he searched for his car. With a press of a button, Ichigo opened the door to the driver's seat of a black BMW, Rukia withheld dropping her jaw as she slid over to the other side, opening the door and sitting beside him.

Awkwardness Level 1: Start!

Rukia cleared her throat uncomfortably as she gazed out of the window, avoiding any chances to glance in Ichigo's direction. Noticing this, Ichigo smirked with his one hand on the staring wheel and other hand used to prop his head.

The smirk on his face slowly crumbled when he thought back to Orihime, he didn't know how he was able to stomach those few hours with her. It's almost hilarious how she'd go on about how detached he was in their relationship, how she felt like she was dating a brick. How she felt that he never cared for her.

-Rukia gripped tightly on the seat as suddenly Ichigo began to accelerate. She glanced at him but he appeared to be in a world of his own, "Mr Kurosaki?"-

Yet not for one moment, would she think back to how she abused his trust, how she took him for a fool, how she cheated on him with Grimmjow! Ichigo's hand gripped tightly around the staring wheel, his knuckles soon turned white at the force he tightened his fist with.

-"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia sang, her voice filled with panic as the streetlight turned red and the truck a small distance away from them started taking its turn through the road as its light turned green. Ichigo continued, clearly not having heard her, Rukia's heart continued throbbing in her chest. "Mr Kurosaki?"-

-And yet, Ichigo still chose to be with her, despite the betrayal, he never told her he knew. Maybe she would've snapped out of it and confided in him some time or another, but no, she did no such thing. No matter how many hints he gave to her so she could open up, she still crawled into the bastards arms!-

"Mr Kurosaki?!"

Screech!

Both Rukia and Ichigo moved forward with the car, luckily they were held back by the seatbelt. Rukia's eyes were wide with fear yet also relieved they hadn't connected with the truck and stopped just in time.

"Sorry..." he whispered softly, though Rukia hadn't noticed this as she was still in her own state, Ichigo relaxed into his seat, both waiting for the light to change colour. Neither party wanted to make eye contact with the other, Ichigo no longer felt hungry as his appetite had left him all together.

"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia called, Ichigo turned his head to her.

"Could you drop me off at the bus stop, I think I need to get home." She whispered, pointing to the sign. Feeling slightly grateful, Ichigo nodded his head and as soon as the light switched, he had moved to the bus stop and she quickly got out. Bowing her head lowly, "Sorry and thanks for the lunch offer."

"Sure," Ichigo answered before going off. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he blinked slowly; still in his mind was her pale face when she called him to stop.

Rukia waited patiently for the bus, her eyes furrowed as she raked her hand through her head. "Now I know that man is seriously trying to get me killed?! Psychotic Idiot! I could swear, my life flashed before my eyes!"

She stopped her rant when she remembered how his fist clenched around the steering wheel, almost dangerously.

"I wonder what could've bothered him that much?" she whispered...


	9. Chapter 9

Rukia shifted uncomfortably at the deafening silence between the both of them, instead of actually doing the little bit of work she was given, she had been doodling chappy images on the corner of the page in front of her.

Glancing at her boss, she noticed the bags beneath his eyes as he stared at the laptop screen in front of him. Her eyes softened on him, he really must've had something bothering him to leave him sleep deprived.

"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia called. With little vocal recognition, Ichigo stared at her in response. "Would you like to grab something to drink? It would be good to get some fresh air, either way, the sun is out and it seems like a good time to get outside."

Ichigo appeared to contemplate the idea for a moment, weighing out his options. He exhaled deeply, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe a break would do me some good."

Rukia groaned internally, she'd hoped he would've rejected the offer but alas, he'd accepted. Rukia sighed as she picked her bag from the couch and walked over to the door, Ichigo followed behind her, shutting the door after them.

It was only when they walked side by side, that she noticed the height difference between them. Rukia shifted into the elevator, making sure to press the button to the main floor.

Perhaps a walk would be better than another drive.

Ichigo stared at Rukia with a quirked brow as she bowed in greeting to several people, ironically, they greeted her back."You're very strange."

"What?" She registered, her violet eyes widening, "Oh, almost everybody around here is so nice, the only thing strange- thank you-" Rukia smiled as Ichigo opened the door for her to lead first. "-Is that you've never spent a moment actually taking the time out to speak to people."

Ichigo snorted in response, a light breeze drifted between them as they walked down the street, gently ruffling Ichigo's spikes. "You were right." He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Rukia turned her large violet orbs in Ichigo's direction, hoping for clarification. Ichigo exhaled deeply, glancing around his surroundings.

"It is a good day, it's quite refreshing being outside." He spoke, smirking.

Before long Rukia had convinced Ichigo to have an iced juice, holding the cup in her hand as she slurped the juice through the straw, careful not to get brain freeze. Ichigo glanced at his own cup, with a cringed face, but seeing as how she apparently seemed to be enjoying it, he took a sip from the iced drink as he walked beside her.

"I told you it's good." Rukia murmured to him.

"I'm just thirsty, that's all." He responded, naturally, Ichigo wouldn't admit that he actually enjoyed it. Neither party wanted to return to the dull apartment, and were tired of walking so they took the time to sit on the grass by the lake.

The water shimmering down the stream, glowed with the sun's light as the rocks that the water curved through were clearly visible. The sound of it all was calming as they sat silently, listening to the natural sounds around them.

Rukia couldn't help sneaking glances in Ichigo's direction; he held a blank expression on his face as he focused straight ahead.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"What?" he questioned, still staring forward unblinking.

"Is something bothering you?"

Ichigo turned his head in her direction, perplexed. His chocolate brown eyes glaring at her form as now it was her turn to stare away from him.

"Yes actually, I have a lot on my mind." Ichigo answered truthfully with a smirk before taking another sip from his beverage.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rukia questioned softly.

"No." Ichigo replied flatly as he sighed, "Rukia, tell me, if you were given the choice to know about something that would hurt you... would you still want to know?"

"It's better to live knowing the truth than to keep second guessing, isn't it?" Rukia answered, receiving a small smile.

"I think, something's are meant to be kept secret... even from yourself." He replied softly as the wind whistled silently between them. "Rather second guess than hold regret."

Rukia looked away from him; a part of her knew he was right even just a little bit. No matter how much Rukia wished she knew who her-

**Ring.**

Rukia shifted with the vibration in her back pocket, reaching to pick the item up to her ear, she pressed the 'answer' button.

"Yes, Ms. Shihoin?" She answered, "-Mr Kurosaki? - Yes, he's here- alright." Rukia handed the device to Ichigo, who reluctantly reached for the phone. Holding it to his ear, he clearly wasn't having the greatest of moments as a vein popped on his head before he started shouting loudly, hanging up and tossing her phone onto her lap.

He exhaled, trying to regain composure, whilst Rukia tried not to laugh.

She soon furrowed her brows at her phone, having received a text message: **Kaien** **S**.

**-U up for a movie tonight?**

A pinkish tint covered Rukia's cheeks as she stared at the text; Kaien and her had met in high school, he was a year above her, friendly, kind and always looking to bring people out of their comfort zones. At first they were simply friends but as time went on and years passed by, their feelings changed and soon enough, he became her significant other.

**Rukia K.**

**-Okay, 7****pm**** is good for me. How about you?**

Ichigo furrowed his brows when her smile grew and she quickly shoved her phone away. She appeared to be stifling her laughter as she smiled brightly.

"What's got you all happy?" he questioned, downing the rest of the juice.

"Nothing?" she replied, still smiling.

"Let me guess; some guy asked you out?" Ichigo rolled his eyes at how she blushed deeply.

"A-Ah-" Rukia responded blankly.

"I have sisters, I know that look all too well."

"You have sisters?"

"Two, younger." Ichigo gestured, raising two fingers, with a small smile. "Karin and Yuzu... my little sisters." He sighed.

"Boy, I wish I had siblings- well I've got Renji... but still..." Rukia murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Uh huh..." Ichigo answered disbelievingly but chose to leave it be at least... for the sake of his sanity.

Ichigo exhaled deeply, the more he stared at the girl beside him, the more he realised that she wasn't so bad after all.

A little- no, **highly** ditzy but... not so bad.

With a smirk, he raised his hand to her and ruffled her hair, despite her angry protest as she plucked his hand from her dark hair.

"You're not all that bad Rukia,"

"Mr Kurosaki..."

.

Rukia rocked on her feet, her hands stuffed deeply into her jackets as she exhaled. It sure was cold all of a sudden, she glanced at her watch.

"Kaien, where are you?"

Rukia leaned against a wall, as she rubbed her arms with her hands and exhaled deeply.

Ichigo who was driving by in his black car, spotted a familiar face, leaned against a wall. He slowly brought his car to a halt on the side of the road, across the street from the theatre. With furrowed brows, he watched her occasionally turn her head both sides, apparently waiting for someone.

She lifted her wrist upwards and shrugged, nevertheless, she still waited...

"It's already nine and he still isn't here..." Rukia complained with a sigh but quickly snapped her hand to her pocket when she felt its vibration.

**Kaien S.**

**Sor****ry****, something jst came up. Perhaps another time?**

Rukia exhaled, clutching her phone in her hand, she hadn't bothered to text him back as she shoved it back into her pocket, lifting her hoody over her head, she proceeded down the street. Angrily kicking a can that stood in her way.

Ichigo stared with a quirked brow as she continued on her way, "She got stood up..."

Rukia collapsed on her bed, towel wrapped around her body, she reached for her phone:

**Rukia K.**

**Alright.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ichigo studied the letter in front of him, as delivered by none other than Yoruichi's assistant, Soi-fon. He unfolded the item in front of him and pulled a white card out of it, decorated elegantly with gold dust and a ribbon.

Engagement party?

Tossing the card aside, he leaned his head back, spinning his seat around. Ichigo stared at his ceiling, tracing the intricate designs.

Hearing the 'click' of a pen, Ichigo was quickly pulled from his trance and looked behind himself at the dark haired woman, who held her head hung low and said close to nothing for the past three hours.

And most bizarrely... she hadn't broken anything either.

"Hey, I'm hungry, I feel like noodles today so hurry up before it gets cold." Ichigo ordered and believe it or not, behind his sudden demand, there was a good deed. He figured since she was down in the dumps then perhaps... it would do her a little good to get out and be alone for a while.

"Okay," she answered simply, standing from her seat and dragging her body out of the apartment.

Ichigo shook his head when she shut the door behind herself, some time alone could also do him good as well considering that he had his book to begin. He lightly lifted himself over the table to grab a pencil when his phone rang. Hesitantly, picking up the landline with a groan he answered.

"Hey Ichigo, your girlfriend stopped by not too long ago." His more lax sister, Karin answered. The only brief and direct family member he had.

"What girlfriend?"

"Orihime, you idiot." Karin answered irritably. Ichigo frowned slightly, staring at the door. "...All I'm saying is: you should remind your girlfriend that she shouldn't try sucking up to me, it'll work on dad and Yuzu but definitely not me."

With that his sister hung up, the monotonous sound of the ended call rang in Ichigo's ear until he placed the item back in its place. Clenching his fists, Ichigo exhaled deeply.

.

.

Rukia sighed, burrowing her hands deeper into her pockets as she marched down, she had barely gotten any sleep last night thanks to the party that continued in the apartment below her, the banging music, screaming voices with the occasional sound of someone throwing up outside.

Though, that wasn't the only thing that kept Rukia up last night.

Kaien didn't even the decency to tell her he wasn't going to make it; she stood out there, in the cold waiting on him! He didn't even call her to ask how she was doing!

In midst of her ranting, Rukia felt two warm hands cover her eyes, immediately in shock, she whipped both hands to the pair over her eyes.

"Guess who?" the voice said, almost immediately, her resistance was called off and her hands fell to her sides.

"Kaien..." she replied simply.

"Well, don't sound so happy about it." Kaien slowly removed his hands from her face only to wrap around her in a tender embrace, his dark hair tickled her ear as his breath warmed her neck. Rukia tried in her hardest to suppress the growing smile on her face.

"Let me go, my boss sent me on an errand and I don't want to be late." Rukia demanded with a small laugh as she tried to pull away. Kaien on the other hand took a deep breath in, inhaling her scent and drawing her closer with a warm smile.

"No, actually, I like us right where we are."

Rukia sighed and with one harsh jab at his side, he released her quickly. Rubbing at his now paining side that she had cruelly abused.

"What were you doing around here anyway?" Rukia asked, walking ahead of him.

Kaien choked slightly as he jogged to her, "Me?- oh, I was just going to meet a new client of mine, and I bumped into you here. Speaking of which, I'm running a little late so I'll need to go." Kaien glanced down at his wristwatch before moving to peck her on the lips and darting over to his car, he winked at her with a smile before driving off.

She smiled slightly as she watched him go off.

Kaien...

.

.

"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia called as she shut the door with her heel, since her hands were full. Turning her gaze left and right, she found he wasn't at his study any longer. "Mr Kurosaki?"

A deep sigh escaped her lips as Rukia moved to the kitchen, setting the packet on the counter and exploring the apartment for her boss. Finally she found him, collapsed on his bed, his head pressed on his pillow and arms outstretched in opposite directions.

Quietly tip toeing over to him, she unstrapped his shoes and placed them neatly on the ground beside him. She glanced down at her arms at the goose bumps that had begun to sprout due to the cold temperature, she glanced at the air condition.

Why he had it on, she would never know.

Deciding not to tamper with any of his gadgets, she tried hard to pull the cover from under him; thankfully, Ichigo unconsciously helped her by flipping onto his back allowing her a quick moment to yank the spread. She drew it over him, rolling her eyes as she recalled doing the same for Renji at one time.

"It's like having another Renji."

Rukia quietly retreated from the room, letting her boss lay in peaceful slumber. He needed the rest, even Rukia could tell by the dark marks beneath his eyes that he hardly ever got a good night's rest. She packed the noodles into the microwave and stuck a note on it to tell him when he wakes up.

With a smile, she moved towards the couch though...

...something in Ichigo's trash can beside the study table caught her attention. He occasionally filled the can with torn pieces of failed ideas but now...

Rukia tilted her head when her gaze met the image of a crumpled up photograph; reaching a hesitant hand into the container, she pulled it out and gently smoothed.

"This woman..." Rukia recalled as Orihime; she appeared younger, dressed in school uniform. She appeared to be smiling cheerfully beside an uncharacteristically happy Ichigo. Behind them both, were images of carnival rides and passersby. Ichigo had his arm draped lazily over her shoulder as he smiled slightly. His brown eyes so full of life...

"Why would he throw it out?" Rukia questioned, "Maybe he-"

She paused, tilting her head, past Ichigo's table to find shattered glass fragments of a once complete glass frame.

"-dropped it..."

Picking up the larger glass pieces, Rukia moved them onto a piece of paper and bundled them. Lifting herself from the ground, her eyes once more came across something peculiar, an open envelope that laid on his table. Examining the item, she pulled a white card out.

An invitation?

Rukia unstrapped the gold ribbon and slowly opened the delicate card...

_You are cordially invited to attend the engagement party of..._

_Kaien. S_

_And_

_Miyako. S_

Rukia hadn't bothered to read the rest as her heart seemed to drop as an electric current surged through her. She laughed slightly, placing the card back down.

"Kaien. S? It's got to be a coincidence, I mean, it can't be my Kaien." Rukia convinced herself, slapping her forehead, "Of course, it can't be my Kaien! What am I thinking?!"

Quickly placing the card back into its envelope, Rukia finished cleaning the mess of glass on the floor and moved back to the couch. Taking the pencil to hand and biting the top portion, her mind would occasionally wonder to the letter and delicate cursive imprint on the card.

**Kaien.S**

"No way!" Rukia shook her head with a tiny laugh. "It's not possible..."

Ichigo watched his assistant from the corridor, with his back leaned against the wall, having heard her argument with herself:

He blinked at her form, as she bit down hard on the pencil.

He blinked again, turning his gaze to the letter on his table.

He blinked once more, returning his gaze in her direction.

Earlier on, whilst she had presumed he was asleep when in actuality he had merely been deep in thought, was shocked by her kind gesture and was to thank her when he caught her unwrapping the image he had thrown away.

He had quirked a brow at her frozen figure when she read the invitation card and muttered something to herself.

She muttered the name 'Kaien' and instinctively, he recalled the man:

**Kaien Shiba.**

With a concerned frown on his face, he turned back to his room, pondering deeply. Why does she know him or rather... **how** does she know him?


	11. Chapter 11

Rukia tidily packed the files back into their respective shelves and placed the pencil in its holder before straightening herself out and surfing a hand threw her dark locks. She reached for her bag and strapped it over her shoulder.

"Mr Kurosaki, I'll see you tomorrow." She said gently; he nodded slightly as the lenses of his glasses shined brightly under the touch of the light, it was the first time she'd seen him actually wear his spectacles; he appeared to be in full focus on what he was doing so she remained silent as she moved to the door.

"Rukia?" Ichigo called, still staring down at the page with a pen in hand.

"Yes?"

Briefly relaxing his hold on the pen, he lifted his gaze to her, tipping his glasses, he stared at her intently. "-It's late so don't wander off to dingy areas."

"Y-Yes..." she answered and almost immediately, he turned his gaze away from hers, though for a split second she wondered if that was the only reason he called on her for. Deeming it alright, she opened the door and escaped into the night.

Ichigo sighed as she gently shut the door behind her, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes as he relaxed his shoulder muscles. He turned his gaze to the phone that she had left on the coffee table, lazily marching over to it. He picked it into his hand and walked to his door, hopefully, she was downstairs so he'd-

**Ring!**

The item vibrated in his palm, Ichigo glared down at it. Analysing the call log, his eyes widened in astonishment.

**Kaien-**

**Kaien... Shiba!**

Ichigo debated with himself internally as to whether or not he should answer the phone call, perhaps both of them were merely friends considering that he is getting married to Miyako.

Pressing on the 'accept call' button, he lifted the phone to his right ear.

"Hey Ruks, sorry about tonight's plans, we'll have to reschedule. I know how you were looking forward to tonight, but I'm sorry I won't be able to make it. I lov-" he paused in his ranting after hearing no response whatsoever as Ichigo stared at the brick wall in front of him, his frown deepening, "Rukia? Are you okay? Is something-?"

Ichigo slowly lowered the phone from his ear with distaste and ended the call mid sentence; Ichigo's next thoughts drifted to Rukia, he quickly marched to his door, pulling it open and strolling to the lift.

He pressed the button several times; the light flickered on and off. A loud sigh of frustration escaped his lips and Ichigo decided it best he take the steps. Pushing the door open, he marched lazily down the flight of stairs.

Just as the door shut behind him as he walked down, the elevator doors opened and Rukia stepped out, searching her pockets for her phone.

"I probably did leave it up here." She told herself. She gently tapped the door open, receiving no response; she twisted the door knob and pushed it. "Mr Kurosaki?"

Ichigo marched to reception casually; he searched, turning his head left and right.

"Can I help you, Mr Kurosaki?" The female receptionist questioned, slightly concerned.

"Yeah? Did you see a woman about this tall...?" Ichigo motioned half accurately, "...with dark hair-?"

"Oh, Rukia? She just went upstairs; she looked like she forgot something."

Ichigo groaned, deciding not to waste anymore strength, he waited downstairs until the 'ding' of the elevator sounded.

Looking ever so confused, Rukia stepped out. Skimming a hand through her hair in thought, she bit down on her lip before shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Looking for something?" Ichigo dangled the phone from his hand.

"Mr Kurosaki! I just- I thought- thanks..." she sighed, extending her hand to receive the object. He placed it into her hands. She briefly checked it though she saw nothing, she sighed once more before smiling at Ichigo. She bowed her head lightly in thanks again. "See you tomorrow, Mr Kurosaki."

"Your friend called, he said he wouldn't be able to make it tonight." Ichigo watched as her smile crumbled slowly, ever so subtly, hiding behind her bangs.

"Thank you, Mr-"

"Ichigo!"

Both shot their heads to the side, where the orange haired, well endowed woman stood. Her face elegantly patted with light makeup and gray eyes stood out between the black eye liner, Her classy white shirt and black pencil skirt with matching bag easily made her stand out. Her normally loose hair was clipped back formally.

She smiled brightly, marching over to them. "I got your message, I was just coming up."

"I'll be on my way now, good night Mr Kurosaki, Ms Inoue." Rukia muttered and dragged her body out of the building; Ichigo's glare never left her form until Orihime stood in his way. Ichigo's warm gazed chilled as casted a harsh glare towards Orihime.

"We need to talk."

.

Rukia shifted her feet as she dragged her fingers over the books on Ichigo's shelf, her eyes buried on the titles on each spine as she skimmed through. Many a time, Rukia had thought about organising his set in alphabetical order but Ichigo had insisted she not touch them as he had his own systematic order.

Systematic? Yeah, right.

Taking a step back to glance at the top shelf, Rukia skimmed over the titles and sighed depressively when the item she desired was at the top. Thankfully, Ichigo had gone out not long ago, promising to be back soon.

She moved to drag a chair, it made a light screeching sound as she moved it into position. Taking a step atop the seat, Rukia coughed slightly due to the dustiness of the shelf. She pulled the book from the rest and wiped the little dust off of it, flipping it over; she turned to the first page-

"What are you doing?" Rukia hadn't heard the door open as Ichigo made his entrance, her body jerked backwards fright; the book fell from her hands as she pressed on the edge of the chair, forcing it to tilt over. Rukia yelped loudly.

Chico's eyes widened when both parties collided, her shoulder pressed onto his chest as they fell backwards and onto the wooden floor, the chair merely seconds behind them.

"Argh!" they both grunted at landing.

Rukia, slowly recovering turned her head over to the man that was on the floor beside her... eyes closed. "Mr Kurosaki?"

No response.

"Mr Kurosaki!" Rukia worried, shooting upright and turning her full attention to him, ignoring her slight headache. She grabbed his shoulders, pulling him upwards and shaking him slightly. "Mr Kurosaki!"

Holding him in her arm as she tried to fan him, she panicked frantically. Perhaps he had hit the floor harder than she had thought. "Mr Kurosaki!"

"I'm not dead." His lips moved, his deep voice filling the small gap between them. Sarcasm drenched in his voice as his eye lids slowly parted to reveal his wooden brown eyes. "So quit making a ruckus."

"Mr Kurosaki..." she whispered, finding it the only thing that could come from her lips.

And then it clicked.

They were way too close for comfort!

Rukia stared into his brown eyes and he into hers, she watched him visibly gulp before hiding his eyes behind his bangs, leaning forward into her. Rukia pulled away awkwardly as she released him to stand upright and dust himself off.

"You're a human hazard." He said, dusting himself, "Be careful next time you do such things."

"In my defence, you did frighten me." Rukia answered back, lifting herself and briefly checking for any scrapes.

Ichigo made no smart remark this time; he simply motioned to his study.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"What?" He responded irritably, still moving to his table.

"I read your invitation, and if I may, what is the surname of the groom?"

Ichigo paused, refusing to turn to meet her gaze. He could almost picture the look on her face, hiding his eyes behind his bangs; he titled to glance back at her over his shoulder.

"Why?"

"I was just-"

"-Don't concern yourself with things that don't involve you." Ichigo dangerously told her, before turning and moving back to his seat and crashing on it.

"Do you plan on going tomorrow Mr Kurosaki?" She asked quietly. Ichigo snapped his gaze over in her direction; he exhaled and turned his gaze back to his work, ignoring her.

.

"Ichigo, you could at least smile for one camera." Yoruichi muttered through her grin with her arm around his waist as she let the photographers take snap shots of the writer and publisher. Ichigo who held no emotion on his face fixed his tie and clear his throat with his free hand whilst the other was forcefully draped around Yoruichi's waist.

"I don't see why I have to come for this if I don't even have the book ready and also..." Ichigo muttered whilst smiling handsomely, "... I don't see why I was invited to this stupid engagement party; I haven't spoken to Kaien in years."

Yoruichi smiled cattishly, "It's not about Kaien, Miyako, his fiancé would like to invest in us and she said she'd like to meet my best seller."

"Wonderful..."

"Now you be on your best behaviour, here comes your date." Yoruichi said as Orihime pitched up dressed in an elegant black dress; once again, looking gracious as she held tightly onto her clutch bag, she joined Ichigo by his side. With less than a smile, he offered her his arm which she quickly clung to as they made their way into the hall.

It definitely held class, everything was an elegant black and white, the crystal chandeliers hung beautifully from the ceiling of each room and the silky drapes added to the gracious feel when entering.

Rukia, held the phone patiently beside her ear as it rung. She crossed her fingers hopefully whilst pacing up and down her room. "Please pick up, Kaien."

"Hi-"

"Kaien! I just want to-"

"-Sorry, I can't reach you right now. You know what to do."

**Beep!**

Rukia hung up, staring at her phone. "I have to go see for myself, just in case." She quickly grabbed her bag and marched down stairs, briefly greeting Renji as she bolted. She quickly waved a taxi over and breathlessly gave the address of where the party would be taking place.

"So Mr Kurosaki, when can we expect your next book to be out?" Someone in the crowd asked him, as Ichigo opened his mouth to begin, Yoruichi cut him off.

"Ichigo here has already begun his next novel so I'm sure we'll be able to have it out quite soon."

Nodding his head with a small smile, his eyes cursed at Yoruichi as Orihime clung at his side. From the corner of his he caught sight of... Kaien and Miyako walk right past the crowd of paparazzi; he gently pressed his hand at her back as he led her first through the door.

The woman in front of him, smiling brightly in his direction as she allowed him lead her through into the other hall for their party whilst he had to deal with the lights and cameras.

"Thank you mister." Rukia said with a low bow after paying and got out of the car, shutting the door, the driver drove off. Rukia did all she could to make herself invisible, she felt out of place, seeing all the well dressed men and women, bearing jewels and fancy shoes whilst she wore a regular jacket and jeans with pumps. Shifting to the corner, trying to avoid the cameras Rukia searched for another room.

Ichigo furrowed his brows when he saw the image of someone who seemed out of place.

Rukia!

He watched as she shied away, ignoring the crowd as she drifted to the area where... Kaien and Miyako headed in! His eyes followed her form as she pulled the door open and shut it behind herself.

Rukia's eyes scanned over the crowd of people sipping elegantly at their glasses of wine, champagne, etc. She glanced over most of the people, crossing out each person. Some glanced down at her from beneath their noses and others handed her their empty glasses, beckoning her for a refill.

Rukia's eyes widened when she saw the back of someone who appeared strikingly similar to-

"Rukia." Someone called from behind her before she could get a good look, turning around, she met Ichigo's gaze.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

Before she knew it, many photographers had begun to filter into the room, following behind Ichigo.

"Ichigo, is that you?" Someone asked, Rukia recognised the voice all too well, she was about to turn around when Ichigo pulled her back and drew her forcibly into his arms, he held her tightly against her will, even as she fought.

"Don't look." He instructed her, cameras flashed even more as they gazed at the two of them. Orihime stared at Ichigo and his assistant; he hid her from the cameras, holding her tightly as he pushed through the paparazzi.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rukia rested her head against the window, staring passively at nothing in particular. At this point the choking silence didn't bother her as Ichigo drove, also without a word. Neither party bothered to look at the other so Rukia resolved to continue to stare at any inanimate object that caught her attention.

Without so much as a warning, Ichigo braked on the side of the road, forcing Rukia forward and out of her trance. She was thankful for the seat belt she had around her form, snapping her head in Ichigo's direction she waited for some form of reasoning but merely watched him clench his fist around the steering wheel.

"Why'd you come?" he questioned, hiding his eyes behind his bangs.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"Why did you come?" he repeated, this time a little more indignantly.

"I was looking for someone or rather... hoping not to see the person I was looking for." She answered softly.

"**Rukia, tell me, if you were given the choice to know about something that would hurt you... would you still want to know?"**

"**It's better to live knowing the truth than to keep second guessing, isn't it?" Rukia answered.**

"**I think, something's are meant to be kept secret... even from yourself." Ichigo replied softly as the wind whistled silently between them. "Rather second guess than hold regret."**

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Ichigo questioned.

"No."

A wave of relief washed over him, knowing that she had not seen her beloved who was engaged to another woman. Ichigo stared at his reflection through his rear view. Considering what he did was absolutely out of character for him. He remembered the smirk on Yoruichi's face as he marched out of the building.

This situation would make for an interesting article in the papers.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"What?"

"Why did you do what you did?" Rukia questioned, her head now resting on the window once more, glaring lifelessly outside.

"So that you wouldn't embarrass yourself any further." Ichigo retorted, with nothing else to say started the engine up again and got back onto the main road. They continued to ride in silence and before long, Rukia asked to be dropped off at a bus stop. Ichigo glared at his watch, offering to take her home only for her to decline.

...

Rukia paid her fare and moved to the closest seat she could find, lazily collapsing in it. Choosing to ignore the presence of the loud teenagers behind her, it was way past their bedtime in any case. Rukia rested her head against the window, with each light that they passed her reflection shone on the glass frame.

With a heavy sigh as she recalled the events of the day, Rukia shut her eyes, clutching tightly the bag her side.

Reaching her stop, Rukia crossed the street and entered her apartment, trudging up the flight of stairs considering the stupid elevator was down. Fighting as she tried to unlock her door, she heard a door open.

"Rukia, isn't this a surprise."

Szayelaporro Granz

Rukia internally cringed, cursing herself for her bad luck. Of all the people to meet around here, it had to be him. The freakish, scientist in the making. She smiled slightly to him in response, shuffling faster with the keys as though she were trying to escape.

"Need help there?"

"No, thank you." Rukia replied, avoiding his gaze... and his pink hair. Barely withholding the grunt of frustration as she angrily twisted the knob and shifted the key in it. Carefully registering his sudden movement as he put his blazer on and walked the eight step distance between them.

"Well, I'll see you around. Rukia." He said, walking to the stairs, relieving her of the awkward situation... he paused. "And Rukia... you're using the wrong key."

Glancing down at her hand, Rukia's face paled.

"You're welcome..." he sang coyly as he trudged down the stairs. Feeling even less motivated and tempted to simply sleep outside her apartment, Rukia forced herself into her place. Throwing her bag over the couch and dragging her body to her bed, she collapsed on it face first. "I should tell Mr Kurosaki that I'm home now, shouldn't I?"

Reaching into her back pocket, Rukia pulled out her phone. Glaring at the blank screen, she opened her contact list, scrolling through until she found his landline number. She was about to pressed the call button when her phone instantly rang in her hand.

**Kaien S.**

Staring absentmindedly at the object in her hand as it attempted to grab her attention, the violet eyed female released the phone. Letting it fall onto the bed, still vibrating, she turned her head over and ignored its presence.

...

"Miyako, my apologies. It is quite late but I thought it would be rude if I didn't come over to greet you... personally." Ichigo smiled warmly, "And also to apologise for the scene today."

"It's alright, Ichigo? If I may? Do come in." She welcomed him into her mansion, ordering one of the workers to prepare some drinks, to which Ichigo had to decline under the premise that he was driving. So they conceded to having juice in one of her lounge rooms.

Leather seating, a classic vintage fireplace that burned warmly and intricate wall paintings flaunted her ever growing status in society.

"I forgot to give my congrats to you," Ichigo smiled, pulling a seat out for her, he gentlemanly pushed it in for her afterward. Moving across from her and sitting at the table, a maid walked in and placed the glasses in front of them. "Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, Ichigo." She smiled elegantly, taking a sip from her glass. "You haven't changed much in the years." She whispered, setting the glass onto the table.

"I could say the same for you, I hear you intend to sign up with-"

"I've already signed on the dotted line." Miyako told him, tilting her head slightly, still holding her smile.

Ichigo quirked a brow, glancing the woman before him over. He was soon to say something when the door shifted open.

"Miyako?"

Both turning their heads at the voice, their eyes came to rest on Kaien who had his phone at hand, he appeared to be fiddling with the object angrily.

"Something wrong?" Miyako questioned.

"Yeah, my calls aren't being answered by a business par-"He paused when his gaze came to rest on Ichigo, Kaien smiled, marching over to him as they shook hands.

"Haven't seen you in a long while, what happened at the party?" Kaien questioned through his fake smile. "Who was that woman? Your friend? It's definitely going to make for an interesting article tomorrow."

"I guess you could say that we're quite **close**." Ichigo mused, watching as Kaien's eye twitched, stuggling to hold his smile.

"Really?"

"Really." Ichigo replied.

Obliviously, Miyako stood upright, pushing her seat back. Glancing at her watch, she sighed. "I'm sorry Ichigo but it is quite late, I best be off to bed now. I would've loved to see you off but I-"

"I'll see myself out." Ichigo stood to his feet; his glass untouched and walked to the door, turning back to Miyako, he bowed slightly and glancing a small distance behind her at Kaien, Ichigo smirked his way.

"My congratulations to you...Kaien."

With that, Ichigo left the room, his smirk falling. It was almost unbelievable the way he was able to play with his expressions, for a moment he had planned to call Kaien out on his affair but... silently tormenting him about it seemed far more entertaining.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Ring**

**Ring **

"Hello?"

"Why have you been avoiding me? Why aren't you answering my calls?"

"Why are you whispering?" Rukia fired back lazily at Kaien, combing through her hair after her shower. She was thankful it was the weekend and she didn't have to see Mr. Kurosaki for a while. "Don't even answer that."

Rukia moved the phone to her other ear as she combed the other side, elegantly sliding the object over her wet strands. The small droplets of water on her arms and back cooled, making her slightly cold but even so she continued to comb through.

"We need to talk." Kaien commanded with his voice raised slightly, with little amusement, Rukia quirked a brow, stopped combing, straightened her head and turned her full attention to the device at her ear.

"Really?"

"I'm giving you five minutes to meet me at the park or I'm coming over there and-"

"-Fine, five minutes..."

Rukia hung up, lifting her gaze to her reflection in the mirror after placing the cellular device on the tabletop; she allowed the towel that was wrapped loosely around her fall from her chest.

...

Wearing a pencil skirt that was indecently short and a tight shirt that showed her assets, Orihime crossed her legs, seated across from Ichigo, who barely registered her presence. Her bright orange hair that hung loosely over her shoulders radiated elegance, her very appearance commanded attention from everything and everyone.

"Kurosaki?"

"What?" Ichigo answered, still typing away on his laptop.

"Ichigo?" Orihime ran her hand over the laptop, closing it. Pulling Ichigo's eyes away from the gadget, to focus his attention on her and her alone.

Ichigo quirked a brow before lifting his auburn gaze to the woman that leaned over the other side of his table. "I didn't save the file."

"You'll recover it somehow; even so, I was wondering why you're practically ignoring me when I'm right in front of you."

"What do you want me say?" He responded, his eyes piercing through her with a slight tilt of his head.

"What was last night about? Ichigo, with your assistant for crying out loud!" She finally spoke out, anger in her eyes. "What were you doing hugging you assistant IN PUBLIC?!"

"The press will die down sooner or-"

"-What is she to you?" Orihime asked blankly.

Staring back at the woman as though she were insane, Ichigo furrowed his brows. Orihime searched his eyes for a very long time, as though she were looking for answers that he wouldn't verbalise.

"Ichigo, I'm trying here..." The woman finally relented, leaning back into her seat. Her chest bouncing at the movement, sighing in exasperation, Ichigo lifted himself from his seat. The tip of his fingers sliding over the wooden table, reaching her side, Ichigo pressed onto the table. Standing before her.

He leaned low, close to her that his chocolate brown eyes stared deeply into her grey ones. Feeling the warmth of his breath close to her lips, Orihime prayed silently that he would just lean a little-

"Orihime, I'm busy now..." he whispered into her ear, "...Too busy to entertain you. Forgive me, perhaps another time."

Shutting her eyes, Orihime pulled from him, not wanting to meet his gaze. She mumbled a slight goodbye, lifting her handbag onto her arm with a subtle smile. Ichigo watched her walk towards the door, with little as a final gesture goodbye as he stared.

Orihime held the door open, allowing the gentle breeze into his apartment. Her hair brushing gently with the breeze.

"Ichigo?" She called only to receive no response. "...I loved you... even now I still do. It's a pity you were too blind to see that."

Jaw clenched, fist tightened. Ichigo restrained himself, trying in his hardest to maintain passiveness.

Orihime turned back to him, eyes glistening with tears unshed. Smiling sadly.

Ichigo snarled when she shut the door behind her, unable to form a clear sentence. His fingers digging deeper into his fist as he recalled the moment's he-

"Argh!" He ran a hand through his hair, turning around and pressing his palms onto his table, leaning his head down in hopes that the memories would just drip from his head and disappear forever.

"**...I loved you... even now I still do. It's a pity you were too blind to see that."**

"Hypocrite." Ichigo whispered, he wished he could've said to her just a moment ago but no words were able to leave his lips. Gripping tightly to the edge of the table, to this day, Orihime will never know that he saw her with Grimmjow on several occasions. To this day she will never know how hard it was for him to pretend as though he didn't have a clue about it, how he had hoped that maybe if he showed her more affection that she'd forget about him.

At the end of the day, Ichigo couldn't- no- he wouldn't be kept as a third wheel. At the end of the day... things turned out well for him without her.

...

Rukia strolled through the cement trail, blissfully taking her time despite her five minute promise she had made. She had taken the time to stare at ongoing traffic and even buy herself a donut for breakfast, relishing in the cream filling, she bit deeper into her pastry.

When she arrived at the designated meeting area, she glimpsed over the site to spot a well dressed or rather **overly dressed** man. His black mane brushed neatly, black suit pressed perfectly and tie well done.

Rukia, who wore a plain pair of jeans and black shirt with jacket, strolled over to him with little hurry as she tossed the packet into a nearby trash can, watching as the packet spun around the rim of the bin and ultimately joining the pile of rubbish.

"Hey," she dug her hands into her pocket, keeping five feet away from him. Kaien turned back at the sound of her voice, his hair waving with the wind and for a moment Rukia had thought this to be one of those special moments in movies where the hot male protagonist turns around dashingly.

But alas this was no movie.

Glancing at his wrist watch then back at Rukia, he sighed. "You're late." Reaching toward her to plant a kiss on her lips, Rukia turned away, feeling his breath on her cheek.

"I'm sick." She answered plainly before turning her attention back to him. Kaien pulled away and Rukia caught sight of the newspaper in his other hand, furrowing her brows at it as she caught a blurry glimpse of the image. Noticing this, Kaien lifted the paper and unfolded it.

"Kurosaki Ichigo's love scandal. Interesting..." he mumbled before lowering it to look back at her, "Don't you think?"

"What are you talking about?"

Flipping the article around to expose the large spread of Ichigo holding onto her, shielding her face from the cameras such that only the back of her head was seen. Rukia stared at the picture unbelievably; she had hoped she'd be in the newspaper for something better than- than- this!

Though nobody could tell exactly who she was so at least for now she was safe.

"You tell me." Kaien replied blankly, crushing the newspaper in his hand and throwing it into the bin that was a few feet from them and returning his gaze in her direction. His blue eyes piercing through her, despite this, Rukia's own gaze on him didn't waver. "What are you doing with **him**?"

"Nothing."

"That didn't look like nothing to me."

"It was."

"What were you doing at the Rose Garden Hotel, Rukia?" Kaien questioned firmly, jaw tightened.

"Why? Were you there too?" Rukia fired back, her bright violet eyes determined not to back down. Kaien's eyes widened, and he almost retorted but sighed, reaching for Rukia and pulling her close to him. She inhaled the expensive perfume he wore as she pressed to his chest; she heard the beat of his heart and felt the warmth of his breath on her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I got angry there." He kissed the top of her head and pulled her from him only to place a kiss on her lips. Rukia stared into the distance as he kissed her and barely looked at him when he pulled away. His warm hands held firmly onto her shoulders. "I love you, Rukia... don't forget that."

He stared into her eyes as though he were hoping for her response to be the same but Rukia lifted her phone from her pocket and checked the time. She looked back at him, placing her hand on his and pulled it off her shoulder and the other followed suit.

"I have to run an errand for my boss." She whispered before turning around, she barely walked a three feet from him when she turned back to him. She looked him up and down then smiled at him before continuing on her path.

In truth Rukia had no errand, she simply looked for an excuse to leave the current situation and that was the best that came to mind.

She ran a hand through her hair with a sarcastic smirk, head hung low that her bangs hid her eyes.

"He didn't even have the decency to remove his ring..."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

...Well...

The sound of a pencil tapping against the wood filled the space of silence between employer and employee.

...This is just awkward...

Pages turned repeatedly, each party sharing secret glances at one another, hoping with each turn that they won't make eye contact. Ichigo held a pencil between his lips and another atop his ear as he flipped through a thick textbook, who would've thought he actually put so much research into his books?

Realizing she was staring too long, Rukia shifted her gaze back to the papers she held on her lap. For the past hour she had been unable to do anything but stare at him and then back at her work and do nothing else. Ichigo behaved as though nothing was wrong, that nothing happened and it bothered her. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't come up with some smug comment but... he said nothing.

Rukia daringly lifted her head once more to look at her busy boss-

-who was not so busy anymore and stared back at her!

"What is it?" He quirked a brow, with the extra pencil that was at his lips now in his hand. Rukia's ears burned and she prayed vainly that her ears weren't red. Lifting the sheets to hide her face, Rukia burned with embarrassment.

"Nothing Mr. Kurosaki." She answered ready to slap herself repeatedly, at that moment, she recalled having his arms around her form as he shielded her. The deep bass in his voice as he commanded her not to look. The feel of his chest and scent of his cologne... made her grow scarlet with even greater embarrassment.

Bolting upright, Rukia hid her face from him. "I just need the bathroom." She briefly told him. Walking down the corridor and selecting the guest bathroom, she locked the door behind her and marched to the sink, running the cold water and splashing her face.

"Come on Rukia, snap out of it." She told her reflection with a gentle slap to the cheek for motivation.

With a fist full of confidence and her head held high above her shoulders, Rukia marched to the door, twisting it op-

Twisting it ope-

Twisting it open-

"What is up with this thing?!" Rukia groaned as she tugged harder, pulling on the silver handle with all her strength-

"Oh no." Rukia gasped holding the handle to her face, having ripped the silver mould from its contraption. "I'm done for."

Rukia had her fist close to the wooden door when she paused just in time to think. "I can't shout for help, he'll think I'm childish and besides... it's a bathroom, I'd be embarrassed for life."

Her confidence once gained seemed to have evaporated into the air she breathed, sinking down to the tiled floor, Rukia groaned at her luck. After waiting a few minutes, Rukia's eyes widened with a new idea.

Pulling out two hair pins, Rukia fiddled with the lock. "I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm sure it'll eventually open. It has to work..." Rukia replicated the actions of a criminal she had seen on television and... She replicated in vain.

"Just call for him!" she hissed to herself then looked around at her surroundings and folded onto the floor. "But it's a bathroom!"

Sighing in defeat, Rukia stood and raised her fist to connect with the door. "Mr Kurosaki! C-C-Can you help me?"

Biting her lip as her face grew warmer; she heard the sound of footsteps draw nearer until it stopped.

"W-What do you want?" It was the first time she had ever heard Ichigo sound so uncertain, almost as though he were afraid to hear her answer.

"I-I can't get out." Rukia answered, silently banging her head on the door. "A-And I broke your handle."

"What the-" Ichigo spoke quickly only to exhale deeply, "Wait there..."

"It's not like I can go anywhere else." Rukia whispered at the sound of his disappearing footsteps. She felt like drowning herself at the moment, she'd be reliving this moment in her dreams for the next few nights...

The sound of something fiddling with the lock reached her ear and Rukia backed away from the door, nails hit the ground with a metallic thud. Each time he'd unscrew another nail from the lock and allow it fall onto the ground. He pulled the lock from door and then... there was silence.

"Rukia?"

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"Did you try **unlocking** the door?"

"No."

"Try it."

Her face bright with embarrassment and shame, Rukia flipped the lock and the door slowly pulled open to reveal Ichigo who knelt on one knee, head held down. Unable to formulate even a concise sentence, Ichigo lifted his head to the woman and exhaled.

"Mr Kurosaki-"

Lifting himself from the ground, he abruptly took Rukia's hand in his own, grabbing the handle from her hand. "Hence, I still question what went through Yoruichi's mind to have me hire you."

Watching as he walked away, Rukia wished the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

.

.

"Goodnight Mr Kurosaki." Rukia bowed slightly, "And also about the bathroom, I'll-"

"Please, just go." Ichigo commanded her exasperatedly; Rukia bowed once more, her dark hair shaping her head as she charged out. Ichigo pretended to busy himself as she shut the door behind herself, once gone, Ichigo dropped his pencil dramatically. Rubbing at his paining eyes, he smirked slightly as he recalled the day's events; his smirk soon grew into slight laughter.

"What a woman."

.

Rukia bounced out of the lift, unsure of where the sudden burst of energy came from. She greeted the receptionist who greeted her back, Rukia pushed out of the building and waited for a cab.

With no luck in her favour.

"I guess it'll have to be the bus tonight." Rukia sighed kicking a stone from her path as she shoved her hands into her pocket. She stopped to admire the ongoing traffic purely out of boredom when-

-A sleek, jet black BMW pulled up in front of her, the window slid down elegantly, revealing the form of the woman Rukia can remember she had met on at least two occasions.

"Ms Inoue!" She called to the woman, Orihime casted a warm smile her way, tilting her head slightly.

"Hi, I noticed you walking there, do you need a ride?" She offered kindly, Rukia gulped, she didn't know the woman that well and besides-

"It's alright; I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"Don't worry about it, get in." Orihime laughed, stretching to open the door for Rukia. Rukia bowed appreciatively before entering the sophisticated vehicle, fastening her seat belt across her torso. Orihime switched gear and began on her way; she was a smoother driver than Ichigo, that much she appreciated even more.

"So," Orihime drew Rukia's attention, switching gear and turning her head to Rukia for a brief moment with a smile, "How do you like working for Ichigo?"

"Uh- I-"

"Don't worry; I won't go telling him anything, you have my word." She whispered as though he might hear, "Left or right?"

"Uh left here," Rukia answered, "And I enjoy working for him, I learn a lot."

"Is that so?"

A brief silence spread between the women when Rukia turned her head, showing a graceful smile. "If I may, you and Mr Kurosaki seem close."

"Yes, we were lovers, back in high school that is." She confirmed what Rukia had already assumed; Rukia noted how Orihime smiled at the repeated sound of his name. "He always isolated himself back then, even now he still does. He was everything to me."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know."Orihime clutched the steering wheel but held a smile on her face, she turned to Rukia, "But you and Ichigo must be close, for him to have done something so unlike himself at that party."

"Oh no, Mr Kurosaki and I aren't that close, he's just my boss that's all." Rukia smiled kindly.

"You're right, besides you are quite average, there's nothing much to speak of. You do have nice eyes though." Orihime smiled whilst Rukia processed what she had just said with a confused glint in her eye.

"Thanks, I think." Rukia paused, "This is my stop."

Orihime indicated before pulling over onto the stop and in front of the entrance to an apartment building, nothing as amazing as Ichigo's but just right. Rukia stepped out and bowed.

"Thank you Ms Ino-"

"Call me Orihime," she smiled, "And it's my pleasure, you be a good girl. Bye."

Leaving Rukia in the dust, Orihime drove off. Her hair blowing slightly with the breeze, hands shoved deeply into her pockets.

**You be a good girl.**

"I'm not a kid." Rukia quirked a brow, but smirked, she had to admit, the woman was nice. A firm arm over Rukia's shoulder.

"Hey, you're late!" Renji called whilst Rukia struggled to get his arm off of her. "How was work?"

Her struggle came to a quick end as she relived the bathroom event, the look on Ichigo's face...

"Spectacular."


	15. Chapter 15

"I love you, more than anything else."

"No... Please, you know it's- it's just not meant to be."

Rukia chewed her bottom lip trying to stop the quivering, struggling to hold her tears in. Her heart quaked at impeccable speed. The pitter patter of the rain added to the suspense growing within her.

"Don't say that-"

"Why do I have to watch this crap?" Renji groaned beside her, reaching for the remote but was outsmarted by Rukia who grabbed it quickly and hid it from his reach. Rukia's violet eyes never left the television scream, watching as her favourite show continued. It was the final episode and she couldn't miss it but she wasn't able to pluck up the courage to watch it by herself so she decided to watch it with Renji.

"Hey Ruks?"

"What?!" she snapped, her gaze held on the television.

"Your phone, it's ringing."

"Take it for me." Rukia tossed it to him absentmindedly as she gripped the bowl of popcorn in her lap. Renji rolled his eyes but nevertheless answered the call; Rukia barely heard him or noticed when he lifted himself from the couch. He paced back and forth mumbling incoherently.

"...Alright, bye." He said and ended the call, returning to his seat. Rukia held her hand out for the phone and Renji gave it back, watching as her gaze was kept glued onto the TV. The flashing lights that shaded her face illuminated her slightly pale skin.

Feeling his burning gaze on her, she turned her head to him. "What?" she questioned innocently. Renji snapped out of it and turned his head, leaning back into his seat.

"Nothing." He answered briefly.

Rukia shrugged her shoulders and turned her gaze back to the TV.

.

.

"What's wrong with you? You look like death itself." Ichigo questioned noticing how dreary she looked. Rukia lifted her head to him, almost as though she were struggling to even do that simple task. She had bags beneath her eyes and smiled sadly at him.

"I'm fine."

Quirking a brow at her in disbelief, Ichigo chose not to pursue it any further and resolved to simply watch her carefully. Both worked consistently, Rukia submitted her latest adaptations of his old works and worked even more pathetically than usual but Ichigo chose to leave his remarks for a time in which she was more alert and would be able to respond to his critique.

The sun had already begun to set and Rukia could barely keep the pen in her hand, Ichigo noticed how she bobbed her head up and down, trying to resist the temptation to sleep. He smirked remembering the days before he became the renowned writer he was, living in a rundown apartment and struggling to find the right moment to write his book, having to alternate between his college and his part time job. Remembering how exhausted he was after a long day and still having to type.

Though eventually, he made it.

"Hey, do you want a cup of coffee?" he questioned, figuring he could at least be nice to her today.

No response.

"Hey-" Ichigo's bright brown orbs softened realising she had fallen asleep on the couch, her head hung with her bangs shielding her eyes. Ichigo sighed, lifting himself from his seat and marched to her. "You're a lousy assistant." He insulted with a small smile, using his finger to brush away a few strands from her face.

"But regardless-" He grunted, his one arm reached beneath her legs and other arm wrapping around her back. He lifted her from the definitely uncomfortable one seater, he wasn't surprised at how light she was. "-You're still my assistant, and besides there's no getting rid of you..."

"Ichigo are you there? I'm coming in-?"

Ichigo tilted his head back at the sound of someone's entrance.

"Ishida?" Ichigo furrowed his brows whilst he gazed on at the image before him. Ichigo bearing his sleeping assistant in his arms. "What do you want?"

"I-" he stuttered but Ichigo shrugged him off, moving to the longer couch, he laid her down, taking off her shoes and setting them beside the couch. He pulled the ruffled, thin cover that he had used the night before since he didn't sleep in bed, and covered the girl.

Lifting his glasses that the glare prevented Ichigo from looking into his eyes, "So that's the woman in question?"

"Don't get any ideas," Ichigo told him and moved back to his table, alerting his laptop that he would continue working; he picked a pencil and began marking off on pages. Ichigo kicked out the chair across him for Uryuu or rather the soon to be Dr. Ishida, Uryuu snubbed Ichigo and took the chair, crossing his legs.

"What do you want?" Ichigo snapped, drawing Uryuu from his sceptical glances at Rukia.

"I have something to ask you," Uryuu blinked, lifting his spectacles and glaring seriously at Ichigo. "It's about Orihime."

Ichigo's lips thinned, his head tilted and brows furrowed. He dropped the pencil in his hand and glared at his friend.

.

.

"**She confided in me Ichigo, she loves you. You know me Ichigo, you know that I would never do this but she does love you and-"**

"**-Ishida, you don't understand. You wouldn't understand."**

Ichigo gripped tightly at the pencil at hand, it was late into the night after his conversation with Ishida. How dare she paint herself out to be the victim?!

The pencil he held snapped in half.

He lifted his head to the sound of a groan, the girl lifted her head, groggy and semi disorientated. Her hair sprung out in all directions, she paused a moment to stare at Ichigo, who stared back.

"I see you all day and I still have to see you in my dreams." She groaned, still disorientated, she lifted the cover and covered herself completely within it, returning to her sleep.

"Should I be offended?" Ichigo asked himself with a throbbing vein at the corner of his head.

It took a while before Rukia's shrill scream filled the air; bolting upright she glared at Ichigo.

"Mr Kurosaki!"

"What?"

Trying to comb out her hair with her fingers, Rukia slipped on her shoes. "I have to go." She grabbed her bag when Ichigo called her to a stop.

"I'll take you home." He told her, lifting himself from his seat. They marched slowly to the door, Rukia following closely behind as he grabbed his keys from the counter. She gulped at the thought of getting into another car ride with him.

Ichigo jumped into the driver's seat and waited for Rukia to enter, she strapped the seat belt around her protectively, Ichigo noticed this and smirked, wrapping his hands around the steering wheel.

The journey to her place was silent, something both appreciated, Rukia especially considering that she was practically falling asleep once again.

Ichigo braked abruptly, pulling Rukia forward.

"T-Thanks Mr Kurosaki." She muttered with a slight bow of her head, Ichigo turned to look at her; he stared at the entrance to the place she resided in, his brows furrowing deeply. "Mr Kurosaki?"

"Good night Rukia." He told her through a tight jaw, she watched as his Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. She took notice of how he tightly he clenched the steering wheel but still, she was too tired to question as she got out, he sped off.

"Bastard!" Ichigo cursed when far from Rukia, "After these years, I had to see that good for nothing-"

Ichigo breathed to relax himself, his heart pounding in his chest, who knows what he would have done had Rukia not been there when Ichigo watched in disgust as that man entered the building Rukia stayed in.

"Grimmjow."


	16. Chapter 16

Rukia trudged towards the entrance of the building Mr Kurosaki stayed in, quietly breezing through the rotating doors and marching to the elevator. She pressed the button and stood back waiting patiently.

"Oh Rukia!" someone called; turning around she noticed the receptionist waving a note in her hand. "Mr Kurosaki said to tell you something urgent came up and that you could have the day off."

"Oh thanks." She smiled in response whilst muttering that it would have been far more convenient to have sent her a message instead of making her journey all the way here. Trudging back to the door, Rukia moved out, inhaling the breeze when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

"What?" Rukia answered her phone.

"I need to see you."

"Kaien, I'm busy."

"Now."

Exhaling indignantly, Rukia forced a smile. "Sure, Kamigawa Bridge. It's closer to me." With that, she hadn't bothered to listen to his response before ending the call. Rukia smirked, "Maybe this time he won't have the ring on."

.

.

Renji dug his fingers even deeper into his pockets, wearing navy jeans and a black shirt he pushed the door into the cafe, he allowed the people inside to get used to his strong demeanour.

"Woman in black... woman in black..." Renji repeated to himself whilst scanning the area.

He knew it was wrong but he was thankful that it was him who answered the phone and not Rukia herself. He quirked a brow when he came to gaze on a fragile looking woman, seated with her head bowed and staring deeply into her coffee mug. She wore a black dress with a sakura pattern travelling down the side.

He marched to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Hey Rukia, what are you doing here?"

The woman lifted her head, stumbling backwards, Renji coughed in embarrassment. The woman definitely wasn't Rukia. "M-My apologies, I thought you were someone else."

"You said Rukia just now didn't you? Do you know her? Where is she? Have you-?" The woman's barrage of questions came to a quick end by her coughing fit; Renji ordered for a cup of water and handed it to the woman. She turned her head from him elegantly as she drank. Renji took a seat in front of her.

She must've been the woman he was told about.

He analyzed her, if both Rukia and her stood together, they would look like twins. No doubt about it.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

"Don't apologise, are you alright?" Renji watched as she responded with a nod, acknowledging that she was alright, Renji leaned back. "So, I heard you wanted to meet Rukia? Why? Are you her mother? You look a little young for that but then again these days-"

"-I'm her sister," the woman looked up to him, a tired, saddened expression painted onto her pale face. "Hisana Kuchiki."

Renji quirked a brow, the name sounded familiar. Kuchiki...

Aside from the fact that it was Rukia's given surname...

"Y-You're-" he began.

"Byakuya Kuchiki's wife." She muttered beneath a small smile. "I've been searching for Rukia for a very long time, I regretted leaving her in that orphanage all those years ago and you see I have to find her so if you-"

"-I'm not going to help you." Renji told her coldly, his eyes penetrating right through her shocked expression. "She was fine without you then, she'll be fine without you now. I always wondered what type of person you would be; you abandoned her to marry someone rich-"

"-No, it wasn't like that. You wouldn't understand..." The woman gripped tightly to her dress.

"At least you had the decency to give her a name." Renji fired at her

"I hadn't met Byakuya when I-"

"When you what? Say it." Renji mocked her.

"Please I just need to make things right with her. I need to have her forgive me." Hisana pleaded remembering the innocent look in little Rukia's eyes when Hisana had left her on that porch. The softness to her fingers and brightness to her eyes.

Renji stood from his chair, walking to the door, he opened it. "I hope you live with the guilt for the rest of your life."

Pacing casually down the street, Renji unwrapped a packet of bubblegum and tossed it into his mouth. Chewing at the flavour of it, he knew he was cruel to the woman but that was nothing. He recalled the late nights he'd hear a snivel from the bunk below him at the orphanage, the somewhat silent cries of Rukia when she believed nobody could hear her.

"**My dad taught me how to ride a bike!"**

"**My mom made my lunch today, you want some?"**

**Renji watched Rukia who swung back and forth alone, her short legs dangling from the tire. Though they shared the same bunk, they had never spoken to each other before. He marched towards her, his small hands placed on her back, he pushed her forward gently. In fright, the young girl gasped, snapping her head back.**

"**Hi." He said, "I've never spoken to you before but I'm Renji."**

"**Rukia." She responded, her bangs covered her eyes completely.**

**Both said nothing else as Renji propelled her forward but nothing needed to be said when they already knew it was the start of a good friendship.**

Brushing a hand through the end of his ponytail, Renji unwrapped another piece of bubblegum and chewed harder. He remembered the times in which the orphanage bullies would attack her; they enjoyed tormenting her for reading her books. Renji never forgot the innocent look she had on her face as they ripped page after page, though she never responded, never called for them to stop or anything.

She let them push her around, literally. They'd ruffle her; enjoying it because she would never respond. The less she responded, the more they had fun provoking her.

"**Hey! Leave her alone!" Renji interjected for the first time, they stopped and turned to him, Rukia peeked behind her thick row of bangs at him, waving her hand for him to go away so he wouldn't get hurt but nevertheless he marched up to them, placing a hand on the ringleaders face and pushed him to the ground. "Next person to bother Rukia will get it from me!"**

**From then on, the friendship they built became even stronger.**

"Damnit..." he swore, against his better judgement, Renji turned around, storming back into the cafe, he settled in front of the shocked woman, lacing his arms around his chest Renji stared deeply at her.

"I want to know everything."

.

.

Rukia leaned against the strong wood, watching as the water flowed beneath her. Kaien was late, probably trying to ditch his fiancé. Rukia brushed a few loose strands behind her ear with a smirk.

How could she not have noticed, the late business meetings, all the sudden 'places he needed to be' and protectiveness over his phone?

"S-Sorry I'm late, I kept trying to get out of a meeting but those old geezers kept going on and on." Kaien laughed whilst panting as though he ran all the way. Rukia smirked with a quirked brow.

"I'm sure." She laughed sarcastically, recognising that this time he had moved the ring. He definitely was making good progress. "What did you want to see me about?"

"I heard you're still working for Kurosaki," his voice softened and blue eyes captured her, his eyes that once entranced her seemed to mock her, his very smile seemed to be patronising her.

His entire **being** insulted her.

"Of course I am." She responded, turning her attention back to the water.

"Why?"

Raising her fingers, Rukia tilted her head at him. "Because I need to eat, pay my bills as well as look decent and-"

"-I can take care of you."

Rukia's eyes widened, pulling herself from the wood, she turned to face him challengingly. Her emotions overflowing like a fizzy drink bottle shaken and opened. Kaien's eyes were hidden behind his dark bangs but she could sense the seriousness in his voice.

"Say that again." She whispered.

"I can take care of you." He lifted his cerulean gaze at her determined.

Rukia's hand lifted into the air and swung across his face, leaving a growing red imprint on his left cheek.

"What do you take me for Shiba?" Rukia spat at him, ignoring the throb in her own hand, her gaze on him as sharp as a dagger. She drew closer to the shocked male figure, ready to confront him about everything she knew, ready to shame him for the disgusting being he was...!

...but she didn't.

"I don't need you or anybody else taking care of me." She fired at him through gritted teeth.

There stood a long moment of silence between them; neither party willing to say anything to the other. Kaien allowed the wind to blow through them; the serene breeze seemed to wave the females hair around angrily. Rukia turned her back on him, exhaling deeply and took a step away from him.

"Kaien?" An unknown female voice called.

Rukia turned back, looking at Kaiens wide eyes. He seemed somewhat like a child caught in the wrong, furrowing her brows; she peeked over his shoulder and found the object that had caused him to become so petrified. She jogged over to them, lacing her arm around his.

"I was wondering where you were." The woman- Miyako smiled elegantly then glanced at Rukia who was staring at her. "Who's this?"

Rukia turned her head to Kaien, brow cocked. She watched him gulp, his Adams apple bobbed up and then down.

"Kaien, who is she?" Miyako asked again.

That's right Kaien... who am I?


	17. Chapter 17

"Kaien, what's going on?" her eyes darted from Rukia to Kaien who refused to respond, she shook her head, placing a hand to her lips as she gasped, taking a step away from Kaien.

Rukia watched as the woman began to step away from them, she was close to running away when Rukia turned her head to the woman.

"I'm with the Karakura hotspot magazine and I was walking by when I caught sight of the dashing Kaien Shiba, I was wondering if I could get an interview with him when you stopped by!" Rukia smiled, digging in her bag for a notepad and pen.

Rukia had no idea what she was doing, scolding herself internally.

"So, would the second hottest couple like to do an exclusive interview for me? I'm begging you, it's my first article and I want it to be the best!" Rukia pulled her gaze from the woman, smiling at Kaien who stared down at her with wide eyes. "Neh Kaien- uh, that's right- Mr Shiba."

Miyako hadn't noticed the tension between their locked gazes, smiling elegantly having her suspicions laid to rest, she placed a hand at her hip, walking back to Kaien."It's cute to see a beginner with such determination but I'm sorry, we don't want any publicity before the wedding."

"Is that so?" Rukia sighed, pulling her gaze away and feigning a depressed look. "Well I guess it's my loss, thanks for your time anyway." She smiled bravely, making eye contact with Kaien once more, he lifted a weak hand to reach for her but pulled away as she walked away from him.

"Come on, Kaien. Our wedding planner has so many beautiful, romantic ideas for us!" Miyako excitedly told him, placing her warm hand on his arm. Kaien disregarded her as he stared at the back of the disappearing woman, her form moving further away from him.

Rukia trudged away like a kicked puppy, she clutched desperately to her notebook, hair hanging over her face depressively. The look he had in his eyes when she had defended him- defended that **thing** made her sick.

Her heart simply couldn't let the woman suffer, no matter what she thought of Kaien, she couldn't allow Miyako to-

"You're very cruel Kaien." Rukia whispered to herself; warm, salty tears drifted down her cheeks and hit the ground beneath her as she walked. "You're a very cruel man."

Feeling her temperature increase, Rukia stopped walking, as she leaned on the railing of the overpass. Watching as traffic went by, her tears continued to spill over, one at a time.

"You're a horrible being! How dare you do this to me?! You lied to me, I can't stand you!" Rukia shouted words she had hoped to say to his face, gripping tightly on the metal railing, her fist turning red. Soon enough Rukia's hold gave out and she slowly began to lower herself onto the ground, not caring who watched her as she sat on the concrete.

"Yet I protected the little bit of dignity you had." Rukia whispered, shutting her eyes. "I protected you... damnit, you make me sick."

Ichigo watched his assistant, sitting there pitifully.

He watched her tears fall.

Ichigo stared at her as she gathered the strength to lift herself up, dusting herself off, she inhaled, unaware that Ichigo had been standing seven feet away, hands in his pockets. He had been driving when he noticed Rukia speaking to Kaien, deciding to watch from afar, he would've stepped in when he saw Miyako but she already seemed to be handling everything.

She proceeded to walked, ignorant of the fact that Ichigo too walked five steps behind her. He watched as she raised her elbow to her eyes in a childlike manner and stroked away her tears.

She stopped walking.

Her shoulders shook, head bowed.

He heard her snivelling, unsure of what to do, Ichigo looked away. It'd been a long time since last a woman- or man for that matter- had cried in front of him. Ichigo stepped to her, his hand close to touching her shoulder, he lowered-

-then stopped.

Silently exhaling, his eyes softened and he pulled away, walking in the opposite direction.

.

.

"What's got you looking so raggedy?" Someone questioned Rukia as she stepped out of the compound; she had eventually managed to carry herself back to her own apartment even after Renji's offer that she could stay over the night. Her bangs that were normally combed back were left to dangle from her face; she gazed at Grimmjow through her bangs.

"Hello Grimmjow." She said simply, watching as he lit another cigarette, she despised the unnecessary tattoo of a jawbone that traced the flesh of his jaw. Sitting lazily on his pride and joy; a shiny jet black motorcycle. She glared at his obviously dyed blue hair-which he seethed was his natural shade - stood out matching his eyes of similar colour.

"Well, aren't you in a bloody good mood?" He laughed, and from behind Rukia came a woman, who bumping her shoulder as she passed by, with little as an apology, the woman walked to Grimmjow. Rukia watched as the prostitute looking woman allowed him to grab her by the hair and kiss her, Rukia stared as after the kiss, the woman exhaled a puff of smoke.

With that the woman, flicked her hair as she passed by Rukia, snubbing her.

Grimmjow smirked, turning his attention to the shorter woman.

"You need a ride?"

Rukia shook her head and made her way down the stairs.

"If you ever need something, maybe even a little cheering up," Grimmjow drew Rukia's gaze again, he winked at her. "You know my place."

"You annoy me." Rukia's first words left her lips, glaring back at Grimmjow who enjoyed the look in her eyes.

"See ya around Kuchiki." Grimmjow smirked before zooming past her.

.

.

"Mr Kurosaki." Rukia bowed her head acknowledging him as she shut the door behind herself; Ichigo lifted his gaze to her with furrowed brows. She smiled up at him as she normally would, "Thank you for the day off yesterday, would you like some coffee?"

Against his better judgement, Ichigo nodded and watched sceptically as she dropped her bag and moved to the kitchen.

She behaved as though nothing had happened.

Maybe she didn't know.

Maybe Kaien hadn't-

Exhaling as he lifted himself, Ichigo followed into the kitchen, her back was turned to him and he knew, once more she was crying.

"Get a grip!" she scolded herself, lifting her hand to slap herself.

Ichigo grabbed her hand, the female gasped and snapped her head back to look at him but by then Ichigo had already spun her into his chest, holding her closely whilst she stared wide eyed at the door.

Ichigo furrowed his brows, wondering what he was doing; this would definitely lead to a highly awkward moment...

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise when the girl dug her head into his shoulder and sobbed.

"You were right Mr Kurosaki." She muttered through the tears, "Sometimes its better not to know something that'll hurt you... but-"

"-The pain will go away quicker now that the truth is out." Ichigo glared down at the girl, she lifted her gaze to him smiling though her violet eyes filled with tears.

"**Rukia, tell me, if you were given the choice to know about something that would hurt you... would you still want to know?"**

"**It's better to live knowing the truth than to keep second guessing, isn't it?"**

"Thank you Mr Kurosaki." She muttered through the tears, "Thank you for trying to protect me."

Tongue tied and feeling his throat constrict, Ichigo turned his gaze away and pulled her tighter into his chest.

Ichigo stared out of the window. His eyes filled with determination and jaw tightened.

Kaien.

**When last have I done this? Well, since you guys have been supporting the story I decided to update sooner than I had planned. So thanks and review.**


	18. Chapter 18

Standing in front of Orihime Inoue, Ichigo stared down at the bewildered woman sitting behind a desk. She brushed stray strands of her orange hair behind her head and averted her eyes from him.

"Ichigo, what are you doing here."

Pulling out a chair and taking a seat in front of her for a change, his penetrating chocolate gaze never left her form.

"Orihime, I need to ask a favour of you." He began, leaning back into his seat, "Have dinner with me."

...

Rukia's phone had rung nonstop since the incident with Kaien, he had been calling her ever since to the point where Rukia had switched her phone off all together. Lying in bed, face buried deeply within her pillow after a long night without sleep.

She had called Ichigo to tell him she would be a little late; astonishingly despite his crude tone he gave her the morning off.

"Knock Knock, hey Ruks, you in there?" Rukia heard the voice of Renji call out to her; she wasn't in the mood to respond so she grumbled loudly for him to hear. Knowing that he was in since he did have her spare key, she watched through her open bedroom door as he fumbled around her kitchen, placing a bag on the counter.

"Well, good morning to you too." He smiled getting a bowl out of her shelves.

Rukia turned her head away from him in response, trying to mute his voice.

"I bought some milk, remember, last time I finished yours?" Renji mused whilst Rukia remained still on the bed. He exhaled, his smile fading, Renji had hoped that she'd at least be a little on the cheery side today. Pouring some cereal into the bowl, he poured milk over the chocolate loops.

Marching over to Rukia's room, he sat at her bedside.

"Rukia?"

She grumbled a small 'leave me alone' in response.

"Rukia." Renji called out more stoically, in anger she snapped her head in his direction ready to shout at him, only to have a spoon shoved into her open mouth. Bolting upright, she coughed whilst also trying to chew.

Pulling the spoon from her mouth, she turned her head to Renji. He was already familiar with her morning look so he made no attempt to jest at her.

"Good, now eat." He shoved the bowl into her hands. Leaning back into his seat, he wrapped his hands behind his head, searching through her clean room. Rukia stared at him for a moment and smiled sadly, gripping onto the bowl.

"Thanks Renji." She whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sighing, Renji bowed his head. "Rukia, what's wrong?"

"I'm tired Renji... very tired..." Rukia answered with another spoon full, gripping tightly to the ceramic bowl in her lap. "Tell me, what would you do if you were in a situation where-"

"Where?"

Rukia stared down at her cereal then lifted her head up to Renji, smiling, "-Where you had an annoying boss that would do anything to find fault in you?"

"Well that's generally how they are." Renji laughed, concernedly wondering, when Rukia had begun to keep things from him, her best friend.

Lifting himself from his seat and moving to her curtains, he pulled them apart, allowing a blinding light into the room. Rukia wasn't fazed by it either way as she continued to eat. He placed a hand on her head, ruffling her already messy hair, smiling his usual grin. Rukia gulped as she stared at him.

She pictured the younger version of Renji, who always ruffled her hair with a broad grin.

"**Hey, let's go play!"**

"Ruks, I've got to go. See ya later." He told her, digging his hands into his denim pockets and marching out of the apartment.

Left alone in her room, Rukia smirked. "Nothing will ever change. You knuckle headed idiot."

Pushing her empty bowl aside, Rukia climbed out of her bed, checked her clock that hung on the wall. Her eyes widened and jaw hung.

She glanced at her bedside alarm; it had said it was 08:30. And the other one said 11:05...

It was then that Rukia noticed the stupid bedside alarm wasn't working!

"Damn you!" she shouted , throwing the thing away and charging to the bathroom to have a quick shower, get changed and leave the house.

Bolting to the door, hair still partly wet and jacket half on, Rukia smiled for a moment.

No matter how much she complained about her life, this is how she enjoyed things to be.

...

"M-Mr Kurosaki." Rukia called out with her head bowed, panting for breath after the bus had left her and she had to wait a long time for a cab, midst the traffic, she decided to run the rest of the way.

Lifting his gaze to the girl, Ichigo analyzed her. Removing the pen that pointed from his lips and settling it beside him.

She looked... fine.

"You're late." Ichigo shunned her.

"Uh, well, I- the cab- traffic- chased after bus." Exhaling deeply, she lifted her gaze to the emotionless Ichigo. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"You have work to do."

Smiling, she bowed her head once more. "Yes sir."

Watching as she made her way to her work space, she took the files at hand and sorted through them for the previous work she had yet to complete. Ichigo smirked, they had made a pact to forget the hug yesterday considering he had threatened her that if she told a single person he'd be sure to make public what a horrible assistant she was and list all the ways she had assaulted him.

Shaking his head, he turned back to his work. "Rukia?"

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"You're starting to prove me wrong." He smirked from his laptop without meeting her gaze, Rukia stared at him in confusion before turning her head away and staring at her work.

...

"Let me fix your tie for you." Orihime commanded sweetly as she fixed him before they entered the distinguished restaurant.

"Thanks." He responded, offering her his arm as they were led to their seats. Miyako and Kaien greeted them both as Ichigo pulled the chair for Orihime before he sat in front of Kaien.

"Forgive us for being a little late." Ichigo said.

"No, no. You aren't late, we came a little early." Miyako smiled politely as she laced her fingers over Kaiens' hand. Ichigo quirked a brow, noticing how Kaien barely took regard to her affection, he appeared somewhat... distracted.

"Uhm, shall we order?" Orihime alleviated the silent moment, Ichigo was thankful for it and they ordered from the menu. Kaien on the other hand simply gestured to Miyako that he'd have anything she had. In the mean while Orihime ordered a bottle of champagne whilst Ichigo had sparkling water since he was driver.

"Why don't you have a chauffeur?" Miyako questioned, laughing after hearing his reasoning for not drinking.

"I have my own two hands, don't I?" He answered simply with a smile and soon enough the women changed the topic as Orihime kept going on and on about Miyako's engagement ring and wedding plans, Orihime would often call on Ichigo to give his agreement and proceed to tell him that she'd also like something like that of her own.

Taking another sip from his sparkling water, Ichigo lifted his gaze to Kaien. "You seem distracted. Business?"

"You could say that." Kaien answered, turning his attention to Ichigo as he played with his glass.

"When's the wedding?" Ichigo questioned with a smirk.

"It's in the spring, I'm sure you'll receive your invite soon."

"It must be a bittersweet feeling, you know." Ichigo mused before the women turned their attention to both Kaien and Ichigo. "Getting married I mean."

"Why?"

"Well, it means you'll **only** ever have Miyako in your life." He turned his gaze to Miyako with a dashing smile, "Not to say you aren't beautiful, Miyako."

Blushing slightly, she laughed.

"What are you getting at Kurosaki?" Kaien questioned behind a false smile.

"You won't have any other woman, will you? Ever faithful to Miyako." Taking another sip, Ichigo laughed softly. "I commend you, really."

Kaien stared at calm Ichigo, who pretended to be oblivious to what he was saying himself. The tension between both males grew thicker and thicker and still Orihime tried to divert Miyako from the battle of dominance.

"Then again, I hope you don't forget to mention to Miyako about how you and Ruki-" Ichigo coughed slightly, smiling sadistically towards Kaien whose face paled and eyes widened.

"To mention to me about what?" Miyako drew away from Orihime; Ichigo smirked at Kaien before turning a heart throbbing smile towards Miyako.

"Sorry, I was just saying Kaien here shouldn't forget to tell you about how good he is at **ruining** everything he comes into contact with. Trust me; I went to school with him."

They all laughed whilst Kaien excused himself to the gents, pulling at his bow tie. Ichigo watched from the corner of his eye with a smirk before turning his attention back to his glass. Lifting it to his lips and taking a sip.

"This is one interesting night."


	19. Chapter 19

Sitting across from the orange haired author, long tanned legs crossed beneath the table and arms folded, Yoruichi stared sceptically at her bestselling author.

"How's the book coming along?" Yoruichi questioned.

"You'll have it on your table eventually; you and I know it." Ichigo responded, marking away at a few pages before turning back to his laptop and typing away.

"Where's your assistant? I haven't seen that kid in a while." Yoruichi glanced around with a smile, "Has she been a good girl?"

"You have no idea what you put me through."

Laughing loudly, Ichigo stared at the woman who obviously found amusement in his distress. His brow twitched in aggravation as she proceeded to slap his table as she laughed.

"I've been slapped across the face, she stepped on my foot, burnt my first draft, threw a file at my face, makes the worst coffee I've ever tasted and-"

This only served purpose to give Yoruichi more reason to laugh, "She threw a file at your face? Man, I wish I saw that!"

"Screw you." Ichigo cursed beneath a smile as he recalled the same memories he spoke of.

"It's nice to see you like this again, Ichigo." Yoruichi's laugh died down as she brushed a tear from her eye.

"What?"

"That girl is something..." she said whilst lifting herself from her seat, she picked her handbag and marched to the door. "She's somehow managed to bring one **real** smile to your face, I'm impressed."

...

Trudging down the street; warm bag with noodles as per request of her boss, Rukia sighed. Storm clouds brewed over the mountains in the distance and Rukia hadn't brought an umbrella, perhaps the clouds would pass over them to another region.

Brushing black strands from her face, Rukia smiled.

Renji said something about having dinner at his place tonight, apparently there was something important he wanted to discuss with her.

Sliding through the door, Rukia ran when she noticed the elevator door closing.

"Hold the lift!" She shouted, and thankfully the person placed a hand on one door, automatically forcing it to reopen for her. "Thanks." Rukia smiled in thanks towards the man as she reached to press the button to Ichigo's floor only to realize the man was going to the same floor, she got a brief glance at him.

He appeared to be one of the kinds that were trained from an early age to be prim and proper, despite his casual appearance, he practically oozed perfectionism. Raising a hand to lift his spectacles over the bridge of his nose, Rukia caught sight of his sea blue eyes. Hands dug further into his pockets, Rukia bobbed forward and back awkwardly.

"If you don't mind me asking, aren't you miss Rukia Kuchiki?" the man suddenly asked her, Rukia turned her attention to him with a smile, she nodded.

"I guess you know me but I don't know-"

"Of course you wouldn't know me," he laughed charmingly before outstretching a hand; Rukia shook it with a smile, "I'm Uryuu Ishida, friend of Ichigo. It's a pleasure to meet you- whilst you're awake that is."

"O-kay, so you're also going upstairs to meet Mr Kurosaki?"

"Yes,"

Finally the elevator had reached a stop and Uryuu allowed Rukia move out before him, offering her a warm smile.

"After you," he smirked at her almost condescendingly, Rukia swallowed as she stiffly moved out.

"Rich people." She muttered beneath her breath.

"Did you say something?" he asked as they moved to Ichigo's door.

"No, none at all." Rukia was about to knock when Uryuu twisted the handle and walked inside the apartment ahead of her. "What happened to 'after you'?" Rukia mumbled.

Rukia shut the door behind them; she turned around only to find Ichigo in the exact same spot she had left him in previously, typing away at his table. He barely gave acknowledgement to them as he continued to type away.

"Kurosaki, I wonder, why do I always have to be the one to come see you?"

"I wonder the same thing too." Ichigo responded with sarcasm dripping from his voice. Rukia moved to the counter, setting her boss' dinner on the table top. He often asked her to fetch him takeaways since he hardly has the time to cook.

Rukia gasped when her phone vibrated in her pocket; she rattled the bag slightly, causing Ichigo and Uryuu to give her a quick glance, she smiled nervously at them before bowing her head in apology. Searching her pocket, she reached for the phone.

Ending the call immediately, she took a deep breath and moved back to her workspace. She tried in her hardest to pretend as though she weren't awkward for being in the same room as the two males whilst they had their conversation, Rukia engrossed- or rather tried to- herself on the pages in front of her.

She was midst her writing when both men stopped talking, she felt the sudden burn of a familiar stare upon her, against her better judgement, Rukia lifted her head to meet their gaze.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

"It's a little late, how about you get going now?" he said to her in a softer than usual tone, he nodded his head as a gesture to leave. Nodding her head slowly, Rukia packed away her work into the shelf for tomorrow.

"Bye Mr Kurosaki, Mr Ishida." Rukia bowed her head before shutting the door behind herself. Whatever it is they were discussing, Ichigo obviously didn't want her there to hear. Turning to walk Rukia collided with someone. "Oh, sorry, are you okay?"

"No harm done."

"Ms Inoue?" Rukia watched as the woman dusted herself of the invisible dust at her shoulder.

"It's so nice to see you again, is Ichigo- I mean- Mr Kurosaki busy?"

"He's with a friend, Mr Ishida." Rukia responded taking a step away.

"Is he?" Orihime shielded her eyes from view for a moment before lifting her gaze, "Well then I guess I can come back another time. Shall we, Rukia?" she smiled.

"S-Sure."

...

Rukia lifted her head from the couch to Renji who busied at the stove, whatever he was preparing smelt delicious. The rain hit the surface rapidly, Rukia was glad Ichigo had let her leave earlier before the rain came down this hard.

"Renji, why the dinner? What do you want, you suck up?"

Glancing back at Rukia from the corner of his eye, he smirked. "Just wait a while. You hungry? I'm starving, so let's eat before our guest arrives."

"What kind of logic is that, aren't we supposed to wait before- guest? What do you mean 'guest'?"

"As I said, eat. You'll need to have some energy in you." Renji shoved her a plate, the delicious scent of his meal ran up her nose, the feel of a warm plate of dinner in her hands was good, thunder sounded in the background and a stroke of lightning hit the earth. Taking a bite, Rukia nodded her head.

"Not bad but I've done better." Rukia responded smugly despite her inward defeat.

"Yeah right." Renji laughed.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

"I'll get it." Rukia jumped off the couch.

"Rukia- wait-"

"-It's probably Szayelaporro." Rukia laughed as she reached for the door knob, with smile on her face as she babbled on about how he'd practically asked her to be one of his test subjects. Twisting the knob and pulling the door, Rukia laughed.

"Szayel-"

Eyes dilated and gasping deeply, Rukia's grip on the knob dropped.

Rain continued to pour heavily as the thunder boomed louder than before...

"Rukia, meet Hisana... She's your sister." Renji placed a soothing hand on Rukia's shoulder as he introduced them.

Analyzing the woman in front of Rukia; her pale skin, taller physique and her fragile appearance. The woman- Hisana-gave Rukia a weak smile.

"Hello... Rukia."


	20. Chapter 20

"So Rukia, please, come with me. I promise you, I can finally be able to take care of you now, to look after you as a big sister should." Hisana clenched the ends of her obviously expensive dress. "Help me make things right by you. I'm begging you."

Rukia stared emotionlessly at the woman that called herself her big sister, fists clenched at her knees, the food she had just begun to eat had gotten cold. The rain didn't stop as it continued to beat down, hiding her eyes beneath her bangs, Rukia turned away.

"So you're telling me that you couldn't take care of the both of us so in order to keep me safe you dumped me in the nearest orphanage you could find and took off." Rukia began, chuckling slightly. Renji tilted his head to search for her eyes.

"Rukia..." he called out from the window.

"And when you had finally made it, you forgot to come back for me. All you did was give me a name and should I be thankful that I was worth having your husband's surname?" Rukia snapped a sharp glare at the weak woman that sat across from her.

Reaching her hand towards Rukia, Hisana shook her head. "No, it wasn't like that. I never forgot you, I would have rather died than forget you. I thought of you all the time-"

"Then why didn't you **come back** for me?" Rukia spoke through painfully gritted teeth whilst digging her nails deeper into her knees.

"Because I thought you'd never forgive me. I was ashamed of what I had done and the guilt never left me, which is why I did all I could for you without you even noticing."

"What?"

"The bursary you were told you had; it never existed, I paid for your education. All those books you got as presents and even your birthday presents were from me. I wanted to send you to any university of your choice but- you had already left the orphanage and I had no means to contact you so I searched and searched-"

Gently releasing the pressure on her knees, Rukia stood from her seat. Dragging her body to the door, she opened it, turned back to the woman and bowed, hanging her head.

"Thank you for everything Mrs Kuchiki, for all that you have done for me... I'm very grateful." Rukia lifted herself, for the first time, truly staring at the woman, Rukia gave a soft smile. "I forgive you."

"R-Rukia..."

"-But, I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't need your money or to intrude on your family because I have a family of my own-" Rukia paused to look at Renji who smirked lowly, "So please..."

Rukia gestured to the open door, "Goodbye."

A single tear slid down the woman's cheek, inhaling deeply, she brushed the tear away and lifted to her feet. Clutching her purse, she marched as gracefully to the door as she could, stopping when they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Rukia, if you ever need me, no matter what it is, please don't hesitate to call and I'll be here immediately." Hisana placed a card in Rukia's hand before walking out. Rukia shut the door slowly, the dimly lit room seemed darker than before as Rukia trudged to her seat, lifting the cold food she hadn't eaten and took another bite.

"Rukia..."

"No, Renji." She responded between bites as she aggressively continued to fill her mouth with food.

...

Pacing back and forth briskly with a textbook at hand, Uryuu fixed his glasses, trying to memorise all he could for his upcoming exam. He had to do well, this test was a test that could either make him or break him. Reaching over the table to grab a pencil, he marked off what he didn't need to know.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

"Coming." He responded to the noise, quickly finishing the sentence he was reading. He dropped the book on his table and marched to the door, opening the wooden frame, "Can I help-"

Uryuu's head snapped to the side with the force of impact from the slap he had been granted, his cheek burned, turning bright red with a five finger imprint. His glasses landed on the ground with a light sound.

Rolling his tongue over the inside of his abused cheek, Uryuu turned his head to the woman or rather angry woman that stood before him.

"It's nice to see you too... Orihime."

"Don't give me that." She brushed her flaming hair before pushing him aside as she forced her way into his home. Uryuu gently shut the door behind her before reaching for his spectacles, hoping they hadn't cracked. "What were you doing with Ichigo today?"

"Why do you ask?" Uryuu responded, passing by her as he reached for his book again.

"Ishida-"

Lifting his gaze from the book he walked back to her, pulling off his glasses to stare down at her, his penetrating blue eyes, pierced though her being. "What? Are you scared I told Ichigo about that little affair you had with Grimmjow, that I'll ruin your chances at him?"

Orihime growled as she lifted her hand to slap him once more, Uryuu grabbed her wrist.

"I'm not as vindictive as you."

...

Spinning his beer bottle, Ichigo stared at the shiny wood that carved the bar, he downed more, swallowing down the bitter drink. He needed fresh ideas, and figured he could take a walk outside to give him that thinking time he needed.

But alas, he sat at a bar, having a beer.

Glancing at his watch; it was just past ten at night, Ichigo sighed, rubbing at his paining eyes.

"Can I get you another?" the bartender asked whilst wiping another glass. Ichigo shook his head in response, ignoring the sound of someone entering the place. He chewed lazily at the peanuts in front of him.

A chair pulled up two seats away from him and a gruff voice called for a beer.

"Hey." Someone called, Ichigo continued to mind his business as he stared down into his near empty drink. "Hey, do I know you?"

Lifting his head lazily to the voice, Ichigo casted his sight towards-

His eyes widened and breath caught in his throat.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo muttered.

"Oh right! Now it clicks, you're that Kurosaki kid from high school! I remember you!" The blue haired man, who Ichigo had noticed, tattooed a jaw over the flesh of his jaw.

"We're the same age." Ichigo growled, gripping tightly onto the bottle in front of him.

"I hear you're a rich boy now, where's your woman- what was her name?" Grimmjow mused with a sadistic grin, "Right... Orihime Inoue. I could never forget that face." He said whilst licking his lips.

"Grimmjow." Ichigo called, tilting his head dangerously towards the man beside him. "Piss off."

Taking the insult with a smug grin, Grimmjow downed a bit of his beer. Unable to control himself any further, Ichigo placed a bill on the counter, lifting himself from the seat and taking two steps to the door, when he was called back.

"Hey! One more thing..." He drank, swallowing deeply, "I enjoyed **every** bit of her, tell her to give me a call, we could have it at my place... or **yours**."

...

Rukia trolled through the side walk, she needed a little time to think about this Hisana woman... Alone. Hands dug into her thick coat, Rukia sighed.

She inhaled the scent of the after storm, a muddy yet clean smell. The streetlights burned over the puddles of water so Rukia knew exactly where to step.

Taking the time to window shop, Rukia passed by a bar and within she saw a tall figure with orange-

"Mr Kurosaki?!" she called out with wide eyes; she watched his jaw tighten as though something had upset him. The next chain of events stunned Rukia completely; Ichigo's fist tightened and in one motion, he had slammed his fist into the man's-

"Grimmjow?!"

In retaliation, Grimmjow tackled her boss onto a small booth, shattering the table as they scuffled amongst the broken pieces of wood. Grimmjow had seemed to have taken control but somehow Ichigo had managed to climb on top of the blue haired man, lifting Grimmjow by the collar; Ichigo pounded his fist into his face consecutively three times.

Ichigo raised his fist once more when his arm was caught by a small hand, snapping his attention to the person that held his arm. Ichigo's murderous gaze softened as he lowered his fist.

"Rukia?"


	21. Chapter 21

Ichigo blinked and blood trailed from the small cut above his brow, down to his cheek. Rukia turned her attention to the bar tender, bowing.

"I'm sorry about this, Yumichika. I promise he'll pay for the damages." Rukia smiled before dragging Ichigo out. Grimmjow smirked, lifting himself up and wiping his bottom lip with the back of his jacket.

"Wasn't that fun?" He muttered to himself with a laugh before finishing the rest of his beer and calmly leaving the bar. Yumichika shook his head, it's not like it was the first time he saw a fight and besides he quit trying to stop them, it only ruffled his feathers... literally.

...

"Hold still, it'll hurt a bit." Rukia muttered as she dabbed iodine on the cut above his brow, she cleaned the blood from the wound with a wet wipe, as she allowed him to soak his bruised right hand in warm water.

"Do you know Grimmjow personally?" Ichigo questioned, breaking the silence.

"Not very well, he does stay in the unit above me though." Pulling away from Ichigo, she furrowed her brow. "Mr Kurosaki, what happened back there?"

"None of your business," he answered, Rukia turned her head away before pulling forward once more to dab at the wound.

"I'm just saying, I never took you for a fighter. With your calm disposition and all, who knew you could actually hold your own in a fight...?" Rukia mused aloud as she pressed, Ichigo's eye twitched and not because of the iodine. "And with Grimmjow no less, Mr Kurosaki you must be quite strong. Or maybe Grimmjow let you win- no- he wouldn't do that, he's too full of himself."

The more she ranted on and on, the more Ichigo felt his blood boil.

She just wouldn't stop talking!

"Will you shut up?!" Ichigo finally let out.

Rukia gasped at his outburst, lowering her hand from his face, she silently reached for a plaster. Unwrapping it, she moved closer to his scrape and in one sharp movement, planted it as roughly as she could. Earning herself a painful growl from her boss.

Turning her attention to his bruised right hand, Rukia moved from her position beside him and lifted his hand from the semi red bowl. Nothing was out of place except for the abrasions all over his knuckles.

"Either Grimmjow has a hard face or you were really hitting him..." Rukia mused before Ichigo snatched his wet hand from her.

"I'll handle it." He told her. Rukia was about to counter when Ichigo interrupted her, "And what's it with you talking so much all of a sudden, I thought you were reserved?"

Taking back his hand, Rukia cleaned it with disinfectant; Ichigo had served to remind her about what she didn't want to remember- Hisana. Watching as she carefully wrapped the bandage around his knuckles, Ichigo was surprised to see how good she was at it.

"I used to do this for my best friend, he would get into so many fights- some of which were because of me- and so cleaning him up was my job." Rukia smiled sadly at the memory, wrapping around his knuckles once more. Taking back his hand once she was done, Ichigo muttered his thanks before Rukia packed away his first aid kit and moved it back to where it originally stayed. She turned back to notice Ichigo lifting his laptop back to the couch.

"Mr Kurosaki?" she mumbled, "Are you going to work on your book?"

"No, you are." Ichigo lifted his laptop to her and Rukia reluctantly took it, sitting at her usual place, Ichigo had already opened a document for her to begin typing.

"Mr Kurosaki why-?"

He simply raised his abused right hand, turning his gaze to her, "I don't finger type, and both hands are killing me. So you'll just have to listen and type, **word for word**, Rukia."

**The young girl stared into nothing, gripping tightly at the bat in her hand. The vast area of blackness did nothing but warn her of her coming fate, panting breathlessly as she stepped forward into the dark. **

**Blood mixed with sweat.**

**Fear mixed with death.**

Rukia bobbed her head lazily as she tried to get everything he was saying but her body was bailing on her, she'd barely heard half the next sentence he had given her, it was just past one AM and she was tired.

"And she- Oi, Rukia?" Ichigo called but the girl barely responded before relenting and hanging her head in slumber. Ichigo rolled his eyes before lifting himself from his seat and taking the laptop from her lap, moving back to his seat, Ichigo skimmed over what she had gotten down.

He had to admit, he was impressed, in the beginning she had gotten everything he had said. Perfectly.

Ichigo's internal compliment slowly sizzled to ash as he scrolled down the page to skim over the rest; he slapped his forehead only to bring pain once again to his hand.

"I knew it!" he almost screamed, towards the end of the page; she had jumbled up sentences, to the point where she only had verbs as a sentence on its own. Rukia bolted awake at his sudden outburst.

"I'm up!" she yelped.

Reaching over for the stray sheet on the empty couch beside him, Ichigo grabbed it and tossed it at her face, laughing slightly. "Just go back to sleep."

Rukia was all too happy to oblige to his order as she slowly dipped into sleep once again.

Shaking his head at the girl, Ichigo felt his smile grow. She had actually been able to give him an idea. Unwrapping the bandage, Ichigo bit back the pain as he laid his fingers over the keypad and began typing.

...

Ichigo groaned loudly at the knock on his front door, lifting his throbbing head from the uncomfortable spot he had chosen to fall asleep in; he ignored his sleeping assistant as he jumped over her feet and dragged himself to the door.

"What?!" he answered indignantly as he pulled the door open.

"Ichigo! What happened to you?! Your face, hand..." she reached for him but he pulled away, furrowing his brows.

"What do you want? I need to sleep if you don't mind." Ichigo told her coldly as he leaned his head on the door, Orihime was about to step in when Ichigo blocked her. "Do you need something?"

"You, Ichigo. Please, I want things to go back to the way they were, can't you see?" She stepped closer to him, stroking the side of his face affectionately, whilst her other hand lingered on his firm chest. She pulled herself closer to him in a warm embrace, peeking over his shoulder, Orihime's soft gaze stiffened at the sight of his assistant, lying on his couch, asleep.

Orihime pulled away with a smile, "What is your assistant doing here?"

"She works for me, doesn't she?"

"Yes but-"

"-Orihime, I have to go." Ichigo slowly began shutting the door on her when he stopped, "Hey, I just remembered..."

"What?"

"I saw Grimmjow last night... he said to give you a message. And for the life of me I can't recall what he said." Ichigo lied, pretending to be thinking hard, watching as Orihime stared at him with wide eyes. He snapped his finger as he feigned recollection. "Right! He said to tell you to give him a call, that he **really** misses you."

"I-I-"

"See ya." Ichigo shut the door or the static woman, shaking his head, he smirked. "That ought to leave her a little riled up."

...

"Rukia, open the door!" Kaien knocked incessantly, "I need to talk to you... please!"

Rukia trudged up the stairs of her apartment, her neck was killing her, Mr Kurosaki had been ever so kind as to comment on how loudly she snored, destroying his flow of ingenuity. Her hair was a mess, her eyes had bags, she dragged her jacket behind her, not caring that it was practically cleaning the floor as she stepped.

Stroking her pained neck, she lifted her gaze at the sound of a familiar voice.

Kaien.

He was at her door, knocking and calling out for her. Rolling her eyes with a loud sigh, she managed to catch his attention.

"Rukia?"

"What do you want?" she groaned taking another step towards her door, she fumbled for her key before opening the door, she casted one murderous gaze at him before entering. She pushed the door hard on him, hoping it would smack him in the face but alas he caught it and shut the door gently behind himself. Rukia tossed her jacket onto her couch before turning her attention back to Kaien.

"So? What do you want?" she shrugged her shoulder; Kaien took a step towards her when Rukia held her arm out, instinctively telling him to back off.

"Rukia, please... I just want to talk to you, you've been avoiding me."

"Alright, let's talk." Lowering her arm; she smiled falsely, moving towards Kaien, she grabbed him by his arm and led him to the door. Setting him just outside, "Kaien Shiba, even though I can't stand the sight of you, I forgive you for treating me like a fool. So for the sake of Miyako, let's agree that we never happened."

"Rukia-"

"-Oh and congratulations, I hope you have a wonderful marriage."

Kaien stared in bewilderment at how quickly she had come to dismiss him, before she was to shut the door on him he placed his hand on the wood, pushing the door back, he stepped forward, grabbing Rukia and pulled her into him for a kiss.

Stunning her, Rukia fought against his hold on her wrist until finally he pulled away, releasing her.

Within the split second of his release, Rukia backhanded him across the face in disgust. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

"I am not -and listen carefully Kaien- I am **not **going to be your other woman, do you understand me?" she spat through gritted teeth, "So leave."

Not wanting to spend another moment with him, Rukia walked to her fridge and searched for any leftovers she could have for a late breakfast. Kaien would see his way out after the shock, and soon enough, he left as expected whilst Rukia warmed up her meal with a nonchalant expression.

"Besides, I have other things to deal with."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"I like it so far," Yoruichi smiled, exiting a document, she turned her seat towards Ichigo who scowled with arms crossed. She was impressed, well of course she was, **he** was her best seller after all. "How far have you gotten?"

"A month and you'll have it for print," Ichigo answered, glancing around the room, he cocked a brow at the random sculpture of a black cat on her shelf.

"I expect nothing less." She smirked. "Tell me, how is my favourite assistant doing?"

"I have-" Ichigo began when the sound of a knock at the door interrupted him.

"Miss Shihoin-?" an elegant, subtle voice called out only to pause, Ichigo glanced back through the corner of his eyes. "Sorry, am I interrupting?"

Pushing out his chair, Ichigo turned on his heel towards the door. "Rukia?"

Staring at the woman in front of him, Ichigo was astonished. The precise hairstyle, classy dress and elegant shoes. Ichigo smirked, running a hand through his head.

Rukia: Precise, classy and elegant?

I think not.

"Never mind," Ichigo laughed lightly, deciding to forget her, turning back to Yoruichi, he smirked, "See you later."

With that, Ichigo was quick to make his departure. Leaving the fragile Hisana with Yoruichi, smirking, Yoruichi turned her gaze to the woman.

"Hisana? What a surprise?" Yoruichi cooed before looking over Hisana's shoulder in pretence. "Byakuya's not here?"

Setting a gift on the table, Hisana stepped back. "It's just something to say 'hi', after not coming to see you for so long. I had to deliver it myself but I have to go now."

Turning her back on Yoruichi, Hisana marched to the door.

"Have you found her?"

"Yes."

"Hisana, I really don't think you should confront her about it. I mean, you honestly can't expect her to simply accept you-"

"I already spoke to her." Hisana answered in a soft voice, her vision blurring, "Did you know about her, Yoruichi?"

"Of course, from the moment I met her."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"The question you should be asking me is if: I thought you deserved to meet her. And in that case..." Yoruichi paused, glancing back at her computer, "...No."

"Wha-"

"Thanks for the necklace." Yoruichi said, pointing to the open gift box as she typed away on her laptop. Hisana swallowed, twisted the knob and silently took her leave.

...

"Ms Inoue? I don't think I understand what you mean?" Rukia muttered, her attention focussed on the elegant woman before her. This time around, she had her hair clipped up professionally; contradicting Rukia's depressing free hairstyle. Watching as she sipped her tea, Orihime placed her cup back onto the saucer.

"It's simple really," Smiling gently, Orihime turned her full attention towards the woman she had for company. "I want you to leave."

"Wh-?"

"Looking at you, you're such a bright young woman, with so much ahead for you. Why would you want to waste your time working for Ichigo?" Orihime cooed hypnotically, "There's so much I can see you doing and... I want to sponsor you."

"B-But I-"

"Think about it, I'm sure at one stage you did consider going into Sereitei university?" Gazing at the surprised look on her face, Orihime crossed her legs, leaning back into her seat. "With a prestigious university like that backing you up and you could get a **really** good job and become anyone you want."

"Yeah but, it's too late to get into-"

"I have contacts." Orihime smiled, the girl was considering her offer. "All you'd have to do is take an entrance exam, only the best of the best go there. And as far as I can tell, you're an intelligent girl."

Rukia held her finger beneath her chin, biting her lip thoughtfully. Orihime sipped at her tea elegantly, enjoying the refined taste.

"Why?" Rukia finally spoke.

"Why what?"

"Why are you offering me this? What do you have to gain?" She questioned innocently, Rukia could be called anything but unintelligent was not one of them. "Ms Inoue, you don't know me all that well to be willing to pay a hefty sum-"

"You're right, I don't know you that well but you remind me of myself, I had dreams of becoming this and that, becoming someone, to be able to eat at fancy places like rich people too." She paused, placing the cup down, she smiled sadly. "I couldn't, I was a nobody and had nothing, so getting into a university was a forgotten dream. But eventually, I made it. And seeing you brought back a few memories and so..."

Rukia's gaze never left the woman as she walked up to her, placed a warm hand over her shoulder and lowered her stormy gaze to meet her violet orbs.

"...I want to help you, Rukia." She smiled brightly, "Just consider it, will you?"

Rukia was about to answer when the door opened, Ichigo walked in; one bag in his hand, another dangling from his mouth and his other hand searching his back pockets. He was mumbling something when his gaze came to fall on Orihime, he quickly silenced with a deadpan expression plastered on his face.

"Ah, Ichigo. I was waiting for you, when you weren't here, Rukia became my company." Orihime smiled, before leaning back to whisper to Rukia, "Let's keep this conversation between ourselves; I want to be the one to tell Ichigo, alright?"

Placing his bags on the counter, Ichigo's jaw tightened before he turned back to them, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"I best be on my way, bye." She muttered, lifting her handbag and quickly leaving. Ichigo watcher her leave, shutting the door behind herself, his gaze then shifted to Rukia.

Watching as she quickly snapped her back towards him, proceeding to fix the stray papers on his table. She tensed, saying nothing as she then continued to fix his side shelf.

"What did she say to you?" He asked blankly, hands in his pocket; Rukia gulped, accidentally letting a few books fall.

"Nothing."

"Really?" Ichigo muttered sceptically, casually walking to his table, his hand brushed the younger woman's hand, as he moved to sit by his laptop, he kept his eye on his obviously uneasy assistant.

They switched turns glancing at one another; each moment Ichigo found himself being stared at, he raised his gaze and funnily enough Rukia didn't have a good way of covering it up. Smirking, he turned back to his laptop.

"Why are you staring at me?" Ichigo finally questioned

"Mr Kurosaki, is Ms Inoue a nice person?" Rukia questioned, earning a quirked brow.

"In what context?"

"Generally."

"I don't know."

Internally pouting, Rukia laughed nervously. "But you dated her." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

...

"Sereitei University, that's one really good university." Rukia thought aloud whilst walking down the street, contemplating her offer, "Getting in there would be amazing! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Brushing a hand through her hair, she sighed. Working for Mr Kurosaki was a somewhat interesting job... in its own way. But this is Sereitei University!

"Sereitei..."

A great distance from Karakura... from everyone.


	23. Chapter 23

Staring at the woman in front of her, Rukia blinked once over and released a deep sigh, once again Rukia seemed to be the only being out of place, in her casual outfit contrasting the class of the restaurant, she was grateful that they weren't too finicky about her clothing at the door aside from the waiter that seemed to snub her. She was then led to the balcony area, where she was met by Orihime who had offered her something to drink.

"No thank you, I won't be long."

Smiling, Orihime also ordered for nothing. Orihime leaned forward, gesturing how she wouldn't beat about the bush and simply get straight to the point. "So have you considered my offer?"

"Yes." Rukia nodded her head, leaning away from the woman. When the woman remained silent, Rukia knew she was looking for more than her simple response. "I really appreciate your offer Ms Inoue-"

"Well that's good because your entrance exam takes place on-"

"-but I'll have to decline." Rukia finished, bringing the brightly haired woman to a startling stop. A brief moment of silence loomed between them, Rukia took the time to glare at the moon that plastered itself upon the sky, surrounded by stars that couldn't compare to its shine. For a moment, she remembered how she'd stare at the moon from her bunk in the orphanage.

Rukia's gaze left the moon at the sound of a feminine chuckle, she stared at Orihime who had her head bowed and continued to laugh, she brushed a hand through her hair as she leaned back into her seat with a casual smile.

"You're joking right?"

Receiving no response from Rukia, Orihime's laughter slowly ceased and she quirked a brow, lifting herself forward and placing her elbows on the table, entwining her fingers below her chin.

"Decline? Why? I mean it's not everyday people offer you something like this." Orihime furrowed her brows with a slight tilt of her head. "Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with nothing-?"

"-Ms Inoue, I want to climb my way to the top on my own. I'm thankful that you are trying to help me but I still have a long way to go and I'd prefer not to owe my success to anyone but myself." Rukia answered with a smile.

"Is that so?"Smirking, Orihime called on a waiter, ordering herself a glass of wine. She sipped quietly at the scarlet liquid then placed her glass down, though her fingers never left the thin glass mould. "Well, let me let you in on something Rukia; If you don't put that pride of yours aside... you'll have no place to go but down."

Rukia furrowed her brows, "Ms Inoue... it isn't about my pride, quite frankly, it's about not wanting to be a part of whatever game it is you intend to have me join in."

Orihime grasped the glass in her hand but weakened her hold in fear of shattering the object. She forced a smile as she swallowed deeply. The girl was definitely draining the little bit of congeniality Orihime had.

Lifting herself from her seat, Rukia picked her bag and extended a hand to Orihime. "Thank you Ms Inoue, have a good night."

Rukia withdrew her hand upon realizing the orange haired woman made no attempt to take her own. Orihime smirked as she watched the raven haired girl breeze past her; she took another sip from her drink. "Rukia Kuchiki..."

Tapping her manicured nails against the glass table, Orihime pondered with a smirk and her stormy gaze shifted to the phone beside her. She dug within her bag and scrolled through her contact list, pressed the call button and elegantly slipped the phone behind her curled locks and listened to the dial tone.

"Hi, it's me." she smiled professionally, "I need a favour..."

...

Having received an urgent call from her boss who merely gave the simple order: "Get here right now." Within moments of this order hung up leaving her with a lasting feminine shriek in the back ground. Heaven only knows what raced through the mind.

Swinging the door open, Rukia entered breathlessly. Hair dangled in all directions and eyes widened in fear of what she would see...

"Mr Kurosaki!"

Ichigo, who had his hands buried deep within his pockets, cocked his head to the side, glancing Rukia over. His lean form seen clearly through his suit; his hair had been trimmed and gelled. He looked so different or rather... he looked breathtaking.

"Mr Kurosaki?" she called out again, tilting her head in wonder.

"Is this her?" A strange woman who also appeared heavily endowed came out with a brush in her hand. Ichigo answered with a nod and the woman walked up to her, analyzing the girl.

"You're not giving me much to work with here, Kurosaki." The strange woman muttered as she turned Rukia's face both directions to continue her analysis. "But, I'm not called the best for no reason."

"Wait- what's going-?"

"Come, beautification does not occur by itself!" she said as she dragged Rukia into one of Ichigo's rooms. She raced through a rack filled with dresses then stared at Rukia's form intently as though she were deciding whether the dress would fit well with her.

"He said you were petite but-"

"What is going on?" Rukia asked again.

"Perfect!" The woman interjected, lifting a dress out and turned to Rukia with a smile. "The name is Rangiku, how about we get started already?"

.

It was just over an hour and Ichigo checked his wrist watch impatiently, groaning aloud he paced back and forth.

"Could you hurry up?!"

"Five minutes Kurosaki!"

Ichigo grumbled as he lifted his cup of coffee to his lips, "That's what you said five minutes ago."

Yoruichi had invited him to another major investor's festival, the usual meet and greet whilst surrounded by people he didn't know or particularly care about. Yoruichi had said he had to stay through to the fireworks display and only then could he leave.

"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia timidly called from behind him; with a roll of his eyes and an internal 'finally!' Ichigo turned around with a mouthful of coffee.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he involuntarily swallowed the load in his mouth resulting in his coughing fit, all the while he glanced at Rukia. Watching as she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I told you I'm not called the best for nothing." Rangiku called out beside Rukia who seemed far more preoccupied by the length of her dress than anything else. After Ichigo took the time to compose himself, he stared at Rukia who wore an elegant black dress coupled with a silver clutch bag. Her short dark locks were drawn back with a silver clip and a single lock running down her face as she would usually have it, tied together...

"...with light makeup to give her a natural look. What do you think?"

Rukia's violet eyes lifted to Ichigo, who cleared his throat, fixed his tie and moved to the door. "Can we go now?"

Rangiku smiled, moving to whisper in Rukia's ear. "He means; you look lovely."

Rukia barely registered what Rangiku had said as she continued to fumble with the length of her dress. Noticing this, Rangiku lifted the girls chin and patted her back harshly. "Chin up and straighten your back!"

Rukia stumbled forward in her heels, considering when last she'd had to wear heels. Ichigo offered her a hand which she humbly accepted, using to catch her balance once more. Ichigo turned his gaze to Rangiku, opening his mouth to say something to her when she cut him off with a wink.

"Don't worry, I'll lock up when I'm done."

"Thanks, I owe you one." Ichigo smiled, shocking Rukia who stared at him in disbelief. He can smile, genuinely no less. So her boss does have a heart after all. He then turned his gaze to Rukia who seemed to search his eyes, quickly hiding his eyes, he walked ahead of her.

...

Despite her better judgement, Rukia couldn't help but stare like a bewildered child at the exquisite design of the large room. She watched as people with seven, eight or nine digit bank accounts mingled with one another in the hall. Sipping at the wine or enjoying snacks and as she could tell, some women judging the delicacies provided.

Rukia stared upwards at the crystal chandelier above them, watching as it shimmered brightly like diamonds... who knows, it might as well have been.

"There you are! I was wondering where you were." Rukia was drawn from her trance as she heard the familiar voice of Yoruichi call behind her. Both Ichigo and her turned back to meet her gaze, she stopped in her place for a while as she took in Rukia.

She smirked cattishly, ready to make a comment when Ichigo interrupted her. "I'm here now so where's the money bags you want me to meet?"

"Right behind you." A stoic, monotonous voice called behind Ichigo. Rukia turned her head, lifting her gaze to the male figure before her. She gasped silently whilst her heart skipped a beat.

K-Kuchiki-

"...Byakuya." Ichigo smirked whilst the man remained dead panned.

"Don't you know how to address your senior, Kurosaki?" He answered before his stone gaze turned to Rukia; he furrowed his brows upon meeting her gaze. With a strange glance over his shoulder, he seemed to be double checking if he was correct, blinking once over he then turned to Rukia once more.

Yoruichi watched with a concerned glint in her eyes, clearly Hisana hadn't told her beloved husband about her long lost sister. Yoruichi grabbed Rukia's arm with a smile. "I'm sure you must be parched, come, let's get something to drink."

Time drifted between standing beside Ichigo chatting with people from different backgrounds, he always managed to save her when they would suddenly draw attention to her presence. Rukia watched him intently as he smiled dashingly at another investor and nodded his head, his bright orange hair as bright as his smile. He casted a glance to her, catching her staring at him, he smirked before turning his attention back to the investor.

Soon enough, they were led out to the outside of the mansion and into the beautifully adorned back complete with a neatly clipped grass, statues and a wonderful fountain flowing outwards complimenting the mansion.

While in midst of her analysis, Rukia jolted in fright, pressing herself closer to Ichigo, when the first of many fireworks went off, illuminating the sky with vibrant colour. Ichigo's arm stiffened at her involuntary grasp, he glanced down as she stared up at the sky, the lights reflecting off her eyes as she smiled. Completely forgetting her grip his blazer.

He smiled and shifted his gaze to the night sky.

Feeling the chill of the night begin to draw in, Ichigo wondered how Rukia was, still entranced with the bright lights, she appeared to forget the chill but her body told another story as goose bumps formed over her arms.

Unbuttoning his blazer, Ichigo pulled it off of him and chucked it over her head, shielding her eyes and drawing her attention to him for the first time in a while. She scowled, pulling off her head and hoping her hair wasn't messed up.

"You could've asked me to hold it for you."

"Wear it." He commanded, shoving his hands within his pockets and not meeting her gaze. Rukia's eyes softened before she muttered a grateful 'thanks' and draped it over her shoulders, silently inhaling the scent of his cologne and enjoying the small warmth se received.

Ichigo's smirk soon shifted into a smile.  
>Perhaps...<p>

The sound of Rukia's ringtone drew him from his thoughts as he watched her lift the phone to her ear, she blocked her other ear as she tried to listen.

"Wait- I can't hear you- Yes, I'm Rukia Kuchiki- pardon?" Rukia casted a quick glance over to Ichigo before moving away from him. She paced back and forth continuously asking the same question: "Is something wrong?"

Before long Ichigo had noticed her form had disappeared, concernedly he attempted to turn back to find her, maybe she had drawn into the mansion again. When Ichigo was met by a butler bearing his blazer in hand, he outstretched the material towards him.

"Sir, the lady who came with you left and said to give a message that something else came up." He told Ichigo. With a frown, he turned his attention to the man beside him.

"How did she appear?"

"Rather distressed, if I do say so myself."

...

A pair of high heeled shoes removed and held at hands, touched the earth as the very hands that held them gave out in shock.

Whilst one heart struggled to keep beating another shattered.

"RENJI!"

...

So, an update after a long wait...sorry. But do review and I'm hoping I'll be able to update sooner.


	24. Chapter 24

Rukia drew her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth, she had been given a single blanket to use but it didn't serve to warm her in any way as her body shivered with worry and heartache. It had to be just past two in the morning, the redness to her eyes had disappeared but the tears still etched upwards, threatening to fall.

Her heels took the empty space beside her, at that point Rukia cared less how she appeared as her hair hung depressively and makeup had long been ruined.

Nobody had brought her to date on anything yet...

Nurses and doctors paced up and down wordlessly...

Her rhythmic motion was disturbed by the sound of her phone ringing; Rukia turned her dark gaze to the object. She reached out for it and without taking the time to check the caller ID, pressed the end call button and switched it off.

Nothing was more important than Renji right now.

"Ms Kuchiki?" A soft voice called, jolting Rukia awake.

"How is he? Can someone tell me what happened? Can I see him?" Rukia bombarded the silver haired woman only to be responded with a warm smile.

"I'm sure you're tired, why don't you go home and rest. Return when you feel-"

"Stop that! I don't need to rest, I'm fine! Just tell me how he is!"

The woman whose badge reflected 'Isane Kotetsu' seemed to smile sadly as she poured water into a polystyrene cup, she handed it to Rukia who accepted the cup with little thanks.

"Ms Kuchiki, Mr Abarai was involved in an accident- a rather severe one." The woman hesitated to be the bearer of bad news. Rukia swallowed as her heart contracted in shock. "He sustained head trauma, a few broken bones, and massive blood loss-"

Closing her eyes in attempt to regain her composure, Rukia motioned for the woman to continue despite her shaking hands. Tears drifted down Rukia's lidded eyes and she chugged down the cup of water to cool the burn in the back of her throat. Isane chose not to go into further detail about how the man was going into shock at that moment, how he was losing almost thirty percent of his blood volume. They were still trying to stop the blood loss as it is an important part of both first aid and surgery.

"Will he be okay?" Rukia whispered between the tears that ran down her cheeks.

Isane smiled sadly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Don't lose heart, we'll do the best that we can." The woman left Rukia alone once more to herself.

Renji...

"You- can't- die- on- me-" Rukia muttered, her body shaking as she tried to stifle her cry, "You-just- can't-Renji-"

...

Ichigo lowered his phone back to its holder, it had to be the fifth message he had left on her phone since the night before and she still hadn't responded. It was almost worrisome, maybe something had happened to her.

His gaze shifted to the knob that twisted open.

Smirking, Ichigo thought of a million ways to chastise her for being late as soon as she walked in.

The door pushed open dreadfully slowly, Ichigo waited expectant to see Rukia dressed in her casual outfits that comprised of jeans and a regular shirt, as per her normal days.

"Hey, why are you so la-?" To his disappointment it was not his assistant but rather Yoruichi who had taken to welcoming herself into his place. "Oh, it's you."

"Don't seem so excited but I just wanted to say thank you for coming last night-"

"It's not like I had a choice anyway." Ichigo grumbled beneath his breath.

"-And, I wanted to know how far you've come along with the book."

"Almost done."

"Good," Yoruichi smiled cattishly before reaching for the knob again. "Then I'll leave you to it-"

"Yoruichi?"

"Yes,"

"Forget it," Ichigo diverted his attention to his laptop once more, "See ya."

By midday his assistant still hadn't returned and hadn't the decency to call him and tell him what was going on. Ichigo tapped his pencil on the page in front of him, whilst rubbing the bridge of his nose.

With eyes shut tightly, images of how she had been last night flooded into his mind. Standing beside him, hand pressed over his arm. He still recalled the sweet yet modest perfume scent she had left on his blazer, somehow relaxing him. The priceless look of amazement on her face as the fireworks went off, he would never let her know this but the moment she grabbed his blazer and pressed closer to him in fright when the first firework went off, his breath caught and heart stopped for a while.

"That idiot," Ichigo muttered, lifting himself and tossing the pencil aside. He grabbed his keys and bolted out of his apartment, wearing his track pants and a plain black shirt.

It hadn't taken him long before he got to her apartment area, it was his first time being inside the place and already Ichigo took notice of how unsafe the place was, considering the empty desk at the front initially meant for someone to keep tabs on the entrance and exit of strangers.

Ichigo moved to the elevator but shut his eyes with a sigh as he read the sign: Out of order. Of course it wouldn't be working, Ichigo moved to the flight of stairs, hands dug in his pockets as he moved up to the first floor.

"I don't even know which floor she stays on." Ichigo mused to himself as he processed his next course of action. Just then a door drew open and...

Ichigo twisted his face in confusion as a tall and thin pink haired man stepped out, wearing rectangular shaped glasses that gave him a scholarly appearance.

The man turned his gaze towards Ichigo, he sighed as he waited for Ichigo to come to terms with his appearance. The man had yet to see the rest of the people in this block of flats. "Who are you looking for?" Szayelapporo asked as he locked his door.

"Uh- Rukia-"

"Right here," Szayelapporo motioned to the door beside him. Ichigo nodded his thanks as he moved to the door. "But that's not going to be of any help, I doubt she's in."

Szayelapporo moved towards the flight of stairs, turned his head to Ichigo with little emotion. "I hear she's probably still in the hospital."

"Hospital?" Ichigo questioned with furrowed brows, "What for?"

"Don't ask me." The man responded before trudging down the flight. Why would she be in hospital? Which hospital? She seemed fine last night, did something happen to her when she left? Or maybe the call she got-?

...

Having spent the entire morning and a large portion of her day in the hospital, even after being told to go home and get some rest she couldn't leave him here. Her body ached from sleeping on the seats but that probably couldn't even compare to what he was going through.

She had calmed down a bit since last night but she still appeared as death itself, with bags from lack of decent sleep. Her knees were still drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs for extra support as she rested her head on her knee.

"Ms Kuchiki?" A newer voice called out for her, Rukia lifted her head lazily to see the form of a dark haired woman with long hair, her dark locks were braided behind her head and her dark blue eyes penetrated Rukia. Bolting from her position, Rukia turned her full attention towards the doctor before her.

"You look terrible, sit down." The elder woman instructed Rukia as they both took a seat. The woman took to examining Rukia, feeling her temperature, checking her eyes and all sorts.

"I feel fine," Rukia stopped the woman just as she pulled her stethoscope from around her neck, "How is he?"

"The worst is over for now, we managed to stop the bleeding and he's stable to an extent."

Rukia breathed a sigh but the doctor, Retsu Unohana swallowed as she searched for words to best explain her patients' current situation.

Sighing deeply, Retsu pressed a hand over the girls shoulder. "Miss Kuchiki, Mr Abarai is in a coma.

Rukia remained silent as she listened or tried to listen to the doctor beside her as she explained. Renji- her best friend was in a coma. For a moment she expected Renji to pop out and say 'psych! I got you! There's no way I'd ever get hurt...'

She wished that this would all be a dream or some stupid prank, just anything to make this moment unreal.

"Also, I think Mr Abarai should be moved to another facility. Somewhere he can be better taken care of, right now we are understaffed and in his current situation he needs maximum attention."

"Like where?"

"I can recommend some hospitals but in terms of the expense-"

The woman stopped as she realised the girl didn't need to be bothered with those matters as well, "Miss Kuchiki, I think you've had enough now. You should-"

"-Go home? I know." Rukia muttered darkly before standing up, waking her joints up as well. She picked the items that were beside her.

"Should we call someone to fetch you?"

"No." Rukia answered as she stepped away from the woman, bangs shielding her eyes.

"You can't possibly go home in your condition."

"I'm fine." She pushed the door open and escaped outside, walking barefoot across the pavement, her hair swaying side to side as some stared at her with messed makeup. Rukia swallowed as she waited patiently by the bus stop. She was in midst thought and tears when the first bus came and went by her.

When she mustered the energy to get into another one, she sat quietly and waited for her stop. When she arrived at her apartment, nobody seemed to bother her and continued about their business as they tried to ignore the girl's appearance. Rukia marched up to her floor where she was met by a strange finding.

"Mr Kurosaki?" Rukia whispered with a tilt of her head. The man leaned against her door with eyes shut as though he were asleep, holding a phone in his hand.

Since when did he own one?

The orange haired opened his brown eyes and tilted his head to the girl who quickly hid her eyes from his view. He furrowed his brows as she appeared in the same clothes as the night before and walking barefoot.

"I tried calling you." He said, lifting himself from the wooden frame.

"Sorry," the girl replied as she walked to him, scrambling for her key, she unlocked the door sparring no glance at Ichigo. "I'm sorry, Mr Kurosaki, something came up and I had to leave."

She pushed inward but didn't offer him entrance to her place as she waited by the door to speak to him. Ichigo noted her shaky hand as she pressed on the door frame, her head hung low as though she were trying to hide something.

He watched her lips struggle to curve into a smile, bowing once over. "Mr Kurosaki, I won't be coming to work for a couple of days so maybe you should get another assistant."

Staring blankly at the girl, Ichigo brushed the locks from her face to see her glossy eyes as she struggled to bite them back. He watched her swallow them proceed to bite her lips but she wouldn't let a single tear slip in front of him as she stepped away and turned her back on him.

"Mr Kurosaki, please leave." She barely asked as she struggled to keep the tears from falling. A few seconds drifted between them before the sound of the door shutting reached Rukia's ears, exhaling deeply Rukia's strength finally gave out from beneath her as she allowed herself to fall to the ground.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her body before she touched down, giving her some strength to stand up.

"Rukia." Ichigo's firm voice cooed into her ear as a tear slid from her face and onto his wrist.

"Mr Kurosaki, please-" She whispered as she pried his hands from her, Ichigo released his hold only to turn her around to face him, holding her securely by the shoulders he lowered to her height and stared directly into her darkened eyes.

Tired of biting back the tears, Rukia drew closer to Ichigo where he welcomed her into his embrace. She pressed her ear against his chest as she cried aloud; Ichigo unconsciously kissed the top of her head as he pulled her closer to himself.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Rukia sat on the rock hard seat beside his bed, holding her beloved best friends hand within her own in a prayer like manner as she rocked back and forth, her dark hair kept her from looking upon his broken form.

Though it did not get the image of his form from her mind; his head and chest cavity were bandaged, minor cuts and bruises hidden beneath plasters, a drip attached to him filled with fluid reminded her of his unconscious state and the repetitive monotonous sound of the heart monitor that reminded her that he was still very much alive.

Rukia lifted her head in his direction; resting her head on their entwined fingers, she took in his form once again, biting back the tears as she bit down on her lip and turned away from him. It was her duty to take care of him now, no matter the cost, it didn't matter. For a moment Rukia wished she were the one on that bed, Renji would know what to do; he was always the strong one who would have ingenious ideas.

Rukia placed his hand back to its original position beside his body and stood up, gently kissing is cheek as goodbye, Rukia grabbed her bag, pulling it over her shoulder, she left with one last glance back at his 'sleeping' form.

Exiting the doors of the hospital, Rukia drew out her cell phone as she walked down the pavement; she searched for something else within the contents of her bag and in one motion, pulled a card from her purse.

She stopped.

Flipping the card around to view the number written above and the name below. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to back out...

"**Rukia, if you ever need me, no matter what it is, please don't hesitate to call and I'll be here immediately."**

Exhaling deeply, Rukia slowly dialled the numbers on the card and brought the phone to her ear, listening patiently to the dial tone.

"H-hello?"

Rukia's eyes widened and she remained silent with the phone pressed to her ear, she swallowed and parted her lips to speak but nothing left her lips.

"Hello?" The soft feminine voice repeated, this time with more concern.

"I-I-" Rukia mustered between breaths.

"Rukia? Is this you?"

"Y-Yes, it's me." Rukia finally spoke, rubbing her forehead as she tried to hide the painful sound in her throat as tears threatened, "Um- Hisana, I'm sorry to disturb you but do you have time- today? Can we meet somewhere? I'd like to speak with you... please?"

"Are you alright, Rukia?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Where are you right now? I'll come and fetch you, is that alright?"

Looking around her surroundings, Rukia analysed and turned her attention back to her phone. "I'm right near the karakura hospital."

"I'll be there in a moment." Hisana barely questioned any further before Rukia hung up; her sister needed her, her sister was finally turning to her for help and Hisana wouldn't dare dream of failing her. Taking her bag, Hisana ordered for a car to be readied for her.

"You should be getting rest, Hisana." A firm voice called, Hisana turned her gaze to her husband Byakuya who stared at her blankly, she smiled softly at him.

"I feel fine today."

"Where are you going?"

"Uh- t-to- see Yoruichi." Hisana said, "That's right, to see Yoruichi! We have a ton of catching up to do. W-would you like to join us?"

"No, I have work to tend to." Byakuya spoke before turning his back on her, "Do not overexert yourself."

"I won't." Hisana smiled before exiting and having the door shut behind her by a butler, she covered herself in her coat before getting into the car and giving the driver the address of where she was to go.

...

Ichigo glanced down at his newly acquired phone, he had no reason to have bought one before but hence he did when he had no way to reach his assistant. He can't recall how long she cried on his as she mumbled the same name 'Renji' repeatedly. Eventually when she had calmed down, or so she tried to persuade him to believe, she dried her eyes with the back of her hands in a childlike manner, she apologised once more before reminding him that she would no longer work for him and walked him out.

Ichigo lifted his gaze from his laptop when he heard the sound of his door being knocked on, shutting his eyes in frustration, Ichigo wasn't in the mood to have guests so he didn't respond hoping the person would take a hint.

Nevertheless the person knocked insistently, gaining Ichigo's attention. The orange haired man stood and walked to his door, twisting the knob and pulling the door open.

"Orihime..." Ichigo groaned when he came face to face with the woman.

"Is Rukia here?" Orihime questioned with a concerned expression plastered on her face.

"No. She doesn't work for me anymore." Ichigo answered and drew away from the door, ready to close it in her face.

Orihime smirked momentarily at his words before her expression quickly changed into a dismayed look as she turned to walk away. "Poor girl, with what she's going through..." she 'mumbled'

Ichigo paused, turning his attention back to Orihime, drawing the door open once again. "What's wrong with her?"

Orihime turned back to Ichigo, fixing the designer handbag over her shoulder, "Oh, she didn't tell you? Then I guess it's not my place either-"

Ichigo released his hold on the door and grabbed Orihime's wrist, pulling her to him that their eyes linked closely to one another as he buried his earthly gaze through her stormy set. "What's wrong with her?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Orihime smirked.

"I'm asking you, aren't I?" Ichigo countered blankly, Orihime placed a hand over his and pried his fingers from her wrist.

"Bye... Ichigo." She smirked before waving her head, allowing her curls to follow behind her as she elegantly strutted away from him. Ichigo furrowed his brows deeply, clenching his fists at his side before slamming the door behind him, knocking a nail from one of the hinges out.

Entering the elevator, Orihime pulled out her phone as she pressed the lower floor button. Dialling a number, she lifted the object to her ear and waited for an answer.

"Sosuke, I guess I should thank you for the favour shouldn't I?" Orihime smiled. "He isn't badly hurt, is he?"

"Miss Inoue, you asked for a favour- whether the man is-" The man on the other end spoke smoothly and clearly, for a moment causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Aizen, there are many things I could live with but not having killed a man."

"You asked for an accident and you got one... Orihime." Aizen's voice darkened slightly but remained at the same calm level. "Good bye, Miss Inoue."

With that he hung up, leaving Orihime to roll her eyes as the doors slid open for her to exit at her floor. Now, Rukia had something else to put all her focus on, it's a pity that she had to do that to the man, hence the girl should've accepted her kind off at Sereitei university. Chucking the cell phone into her bag, Orihime drifted into her vehicle.

...

A glass of water sat in front of Rukia as per her request, her hands cupped around her knee caps as her 'sister' gazed at her with a concerned glint in her eyes.

"Rukia, is something wrong? Would you like to-"

Inhaling, Rukia took the time to speak. "I would like to ask you a favour."

"Sure, is there something you-?"

"Please loan me some money to take Renji to a hospital in Sereitei, I promise I will pay you back... with interest, that is."

Hisana blinked to make out what was going on. "Renji? What is wrong with him?"

"He got into an accident and he needs to be sent somewhere where he'll be better taken care of. So please-"

Moving from her seat, Hisana walked to her sister, taking both the younger's hands into her own, she squeezed affectionately with a smile.

"Of course, I'll help. And you don't need to pay me back, I told you, if you ever need me, I'm always here for you." Hisana spoke softly gazing into her sister's familiar eyes, "I'll have everything sorted, trust me..."

"I'll go with him- to Sereitei, I mean." Rukia announced to her sisters shock.

"He'll be well taken care off-"

"I want to be there beside him."

"Are you certain that you want to leave everything here?" Hisana gazed into Rukia's violet orbs as Rukia thought, taking a deep breath, she blinked.

"Yes."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Flipping page after page, Ichigo's expressions shifted from a small smile to a serious frown and even a soft chuckle at one stage. He skimmed over Rukia's handwriting; reading over what he had left her to busy herself with and on more than one occasion had found images on the corners of the pages where she had drawn small chappy pictures.

Slowly closing the file, Ichigo moved to his bookshelf and slotted it in. Midst this action, he recalled the time where she had fallen onto him as she reached for a book herself. She was a damn nuisance, always doing something ditzy and creating some form of chaos but yet...

...the emptiness and silence...

Something he was once so used to now felt so very strange.

'Mr Kurosaki?'

'I'm sorry, Mr Kurosaki.'

'Uhm- well Mr Kurosaki-'

Ichigo smirked as he rolled his eyes and backed away from the shelf, recalling the common words to leave her lips.

Taking his seat at his study once more, Ichigo tried to focus on his book.

...

"A new patient being transferred here?" Uryuu heard Ryuuken's voice from outside as he glared around his father's office, tapping his fingers on the arm of his seat. After having endured a five hour flight to see his father. He almost felt like a school boy being sent to the principals' office, fixing his spectacles above the bridge of his nose, Uryuu waited patiently. His father had stepped out of their conversation about how his grades were 'decent' for the semester. "Family? - None. Friends?-A woman... Rukia Kuchiki?"

Furrowing his brows, Uryuu turned to the door having heard a rather familiar name.

"Alright, do tend to patient in room 103." Uryuu heard and watched as the door knob twisted, and soon enough his father walked back in. Expressionless as always.

"Are we done now? I have to get ready for my flight back." Uryuu glanced down at his wristwatch before glaring at his father who took a seat in front of him. The senior raised his glasses above his nose in a similar way before returning his son's plain look.

Uryuu's gaze shifted briefly to the file that his father had settled onto the table, covered with the name 'Renji Abarai' in small letters.

"Yes, for now..." Ryuuken replied and Uryuu lifted from his seat, fixing his jacket over his shoulders as he marched to the door. He paused a moment, cocking his head in his father's direction. "Tell me... this Rukia Kuchiki, is she being transferred here?"

"It's none of your concern." Ryuuken stoically answered whilst paging through the file.

"I may know her." Uryuu answered. "Is she from Karakura?"

Lifting his gaze to his son, Ryuuken noted the seriousness in his gaze and sighed. "The girl is accompanying the patient."

"Renji Abarai?"

"Don't you have a flight to prepare for?"

Uryuu smirked before reaching for the knob and drawing out of the room and walking down the corridor. Rukia...

...

Having packed her bags for at least a month in Sereitei, Rukia folded the last of her clothing into the suitcase and zipped it. She hadn't taken a lot since she was planning to come back; she had packed a bag for Renji as well.

Reaching for her pair of shoes, Rukia's dark gaze came to rest on the heels she had worn the night of the accident.

"Damnit!" She remembered she had to return the dress, bag and shoes before she took her flight. Hisana had organised for a car to fetch her from her apartment and drop her off at the airport, Rukia picked the dress from its hanger and folded it into a carry bag and placed the heels in too. She hauled the bags over her shoulders and walked to her door.

Locking it behind her, she shoved the keys into her back pocket and trudged down the flight of stairs with little on her mind. She was surprised to see that it had been drizzling outside, and there stood the car that Hisana had organised for her. A man with an umbrella stood waiting for her, he reached for her bags.

"Allow me, ma'am." He offered a hand to take her bags whilst leaving the car door open for her entrance. Rukia bowed once over.

"Thank you mister." She said before getting into the car, the man shut the door behind her and filed her bags into the boot. Rukia waited a moment before he moved to the driver's seat and started the engine.

The rain began to hit harder, Rukia stared out of the window as the streetlights blared on the wet concrete. Renji would be moved to Sereitei hospital after her arrival so that she'd be there for him whilst recovering.

"Oh, sorry mister but before we go to the airport, can I make a quick stop?"

"Of course."

...

Ichigo rubbed his aching eyes before leaning back in his seat, after a lot of mental convincing; he managed to move to the kitchen and had begun to prepare himself a cup of coffee to prepare for an even longer night.

**Knock.**

**Knock. **

Groaning indignantly he pondered whether or not to answer the door so he waited a moment before he marched to the door. Grabbing the handle and twisting the door open.

No one.

He furrowed his eyes, no one in this block of apartments was as childish as to-

Glancing down at his feet, Ichigo found a bag. Lowering himself for it, he lifted it pulling out the piece of paper he found within: **Thank you. Mr Kurosaki.**

"Rukia?"


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ichigo stared at the note intently before tilting his head into the contents of the bag which contained the clothing she had worn to the party. He lifted his head to glance around before scowling, "The ditzy girl has no manners..."

Walking back into his apartment, Ichigo kicked the door shut and placed the bag onto the counter, with a lazy march; he grabbed his phone from his study and took to the direction of his room to call it a night-

-he stopped.

In one moment, the orange haired male, moved to his study, tossing his phone onto the couch and eagerly taking a seat. He opened his document, the bright light radiating from the screen reflected in his eyes, with new found determination, he typed on the keypad. Word after word flowing like a river as his eyes waved from left to right.

Ichigo hadn't noticed the passing of time before he lifted his brown gaze to the clock and yawned considering that it was just over two in the morning, rubbing his temples, Ichigo lifted himself from his seat and lazily marched over to his room, collapsing on his bed and almost immediately allowed sleep to consume him.

...

Rukia pushed the door open with her hip after a long moment of fumbling within her pockets for the keys, she filed the bags she brought in and with an exasperated sigh, observed her surroundings. It was more than she had expected, leaving Rukia with a bittersweet taste in her mouth. It was nice to have Hisana doing this for her but... having lived without having to rely on anyone, getting by most of the time by herself, it was hard to have to ask Hisana for help.

But for her best friend... her pride would have to cease a moment. Smiling sadly; Rukia walked over to a window and pulled aside a bit of the blinds to glance down at the city, the sun was rising in the horizon considering it was just over the early hours of the morning.

Digging into her denim pockets, Rukia hauled out her cell phone and with a deep sigh, pressed Hisana's number and held the phone to her ear.

"-I'm sorry, I know it's quite early in the morning but I just called to say thanks and that I've arrived here safely." Rukia informed her sister tiredly.

"That's alright, I was barely sleeping anyway, I hope you like the place you're-"

"It's a little more than I had expected, I'm really grateful."

"It's not a problem, now, Mr Abarai will arrive at Sereitei hospital later in the evening but even then you won't be able to see him until tomorrow so I suggest you get some rest." Her sister spoke softly, "I'm sorry Rukia, I'd love to speak more with you but- I- have to go now."

"Right-um- good nigh- well morning rather." Rukia whispered and dropped the phone.

Hisana breathed deeply as she reached for a glass and shakily poured water for herself to drink. Gulping down the cold liquid chilled the burn in her throat; she exhaled and took a deep breath to steady herself. She shut her eyes as she pressed her palms on the table top, she was glad Byakuya was asleep when she had left to answer Rukia's call.

Explaining Rukia to Byakuya was something she didn't want to do, it had been difficult for Byakuya to marry her with that in mind considering to take Rukia with them would've created so much tension. The thought of the Kuchiki elders calling Rukia 'trash' or 'street scum' egged at her conscience, she could stand their insults towards her but not her sister.

Quickly bringing her hands to her lips, Hisana coughed as silently as she could, not even water would help her at this point.

"Hisana?"

Eyes widened and gulping a deep breath in, Hisana turned to meet her husband's concerned stare. She swallowed the severe fire burning in her throat down to her chest where it throbbed; hiding behind a false weak smile she turned her attention to her husband.

"Byakuya, did I disturb you?" she questioned softly.

"What are you doing out of bed at this time? You need to rest." He spoke stoically.

Hisana's smile widened and she walked over to her husband, placing her head against his chest. "You're right, let's go back to bed."

...

Orihime waved her hair over her shoulder briskly as she greeted her secretary who appeared to have wanted to say something but Orihime hadn't given her the slightest chance as she marched to her office. She smiled brightly, today certainly would be a good day.

Twisting the door knob, Orihime's smile slowly faded when her gaze came to rest on Uryuu who stood at her bookshelf, his eyes scanning over a book in his hands, he flipped over another page completely oblivious to the fact that she was standing right there.

"Are you going to stand there forever?" He spoke with his gaze still on the book as he flipped another page.

Orihime scowled internally but nevertheless shut the door as elegantly as she possibly could and moved to shut the blinds, shielding them from her workers' view.

"What do you want Ishida?"

The taller, dark haired man smirked as he flipped another page. "Inoue, tell me you had nothing to do with it."

"With what?"

Shutting the book, Uryuu's piercing gaze shifted to Orihime. Tossing the book onto her couch, Uryuu paced over to her, they were barely three feet from one another when he leaned down to her level, placed his palm on the door beside her head and gazed into her gray eyes, keeping her gaze linked with his own.

"Renji Abarai. Comatose. Tell me you had nothing to do with it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Licking the inner bottom of his lips, Uryuu bit back the urge to shout. He recalled that evening:

**He had been walking into a restaurant when as a waitress took him to his table, he caught sight of Orihime and ****Rukia**** on the outer balcony tables. He watched Rukia lift herself from her seat. "Thank you Ms Inoue, have a good night."**

**Rukia had withdrawn her hand upon realizing the Orihime made no attempt to take her own. Orihime smirked as she watched the raven haired girl breeze past her, Rukia had met Ishida's gaze and bowed her head in greeting before marching off. She took another sip from her drink. "Rukia Kuchiki..." he overheard her whisper.**

**Tapping her manicured nails against the glass table, Orihime pondered with a smirk and her stormy gaze shifted to the phone beside her. She dialled a number before elegantly slipping the phone behind her curled locks.**

"**Hi, it's me." she smiled professionally, "I need a favour- there's a woman, Rukia Kuchiki- yes, I would like to know everything about her. Everything." **

**There was a long pause before Orihime muttered with a smirk, "Renji Abarai? Closest friend, you say?" She took an elegant sip from her drink and laughed softly. "No- just make sure she's distracted..."**

"Damnit Orihime..."Uryuu spoke clearly as he pulled away from her, turned his back as he calmly lifted his spectacles over the bridge of his nose. He exhaled deeply, he was reaching his limit.

Sharply turning back to Orihime, he slammed his palm against the door startling her a bit. "Orihime, it's enough now! Rukia is in Sereitei, far from Ichigo as you wanted it, not so?"

"Sereitei?" She furrowed her brows in wonder, when did that wretched girl get enough money to even travel that far? She was meant to come crawling back to Orihime for help... how in-

Snapping from her thoughts, Orihime turned her gaze back to the cerulean eyed man staring at her. The momentary silence filled the space between them before Orihime turned her passive expression into a smile. "I'm sorry Ishida but I have a job to get back to... if you don't mind?" She motioned to the door, twisting the knob open and forcing Uryuu to pull away.

Ishida had barely taken a few steps from the door when he cocked his head back to her, hiding his eyes thanks to the glint from his glasses. "Orihime... we're too old for this now."

She smiled before shutting the door and immediately her smile shifted into a scowl as she slammed her bag on her table; she pulled out a seat and aggressively folded her elbows against the top, drumming her fingers rhythmically.

"That girl has nothing to her name... **nothing,** so how-?" she pondered but soon figured it wasn't worth putting too much thought into, nevertheless why would Ishida have come all the way here to confront her?

...

Ichigo parked his car in the driveway, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated his reasoning for driving all the way here. He pushed the door open and slammed it after him as he walked to the front door, a part of him expected that the door be locked but as usual it wasn't. He drew open the door he often opened for most of his life, that smell of a meal getting cooked on the stove hit him bringing a smirk to form on his lips.

Home...

Silently shutting the door behind him, Ichigo pulled off his shoes and lifted himself, it wasn't long before Karin came running down the stairs with a soccer ball at hand, she almost tumbled down the flight when she saw Ichigo and he watched as her eyes dilated in shock.

"Yuzu, I think the ball may have hit me harder than I thought. Where's dad, I'm seeing Ichigo?" She shouted and it wasn't long before Yuzu popped out of the kitchen with a spatula at hand.

"What are-" It was Yuzu's turn to hold a surprised expression as she dropped the spatula. "Ichigo?"

"You see him too? So I'm not crazy." Karin scowled and before long Yuzu smiled brightly and charged at her elder brother with a smothering hug, Ichigo smiled softly.

"You're staying for dinner right?" Yuzu looked up at Ichigo and her smile only grew larger when he nodded his head in response. Karin smirked and turned her back as she rolled the ball in her hands.

"Well then, come on, let's get the table set... big brother." She mocked Yuzu as she disappeared into the kitchen. Yuzu soon chased after her, complaining about something but Ichigo hadn't noticed a thing... it felt strangely good to be here.

He could almost picture his teenage self bolting down the stairs, late for school and the late afternoons where he'd come back and receive a flying-

"ICHIGO!" His father's deep voice called out surprisingly, pulling Ichigo from his daydream and leather shoes met the firm torso of the orange haired male who collided with the door, sliding down to the bottom.

Yep, no place like home...

His lips twisted upwards as his gaze hid behind his bright bangs, still sitting on the ground, he began chuckling and before long burst out laughing maniacally, Yuzu and Karin poked their heads out from the door peeking at him. Isshin stared at his son in confusion and before long Ichigo's gaze met his fathers.

"Hello to you too... dad." He spoke with a smile, taking a deep breath; Isshin offered his son a hand to help him back on his feet.

It wasn't long before Karin ordered him to set the table and Yuzu brought everything out; arguments ensued between Ichigo and Isshin, Yuzu tried to calm both males and Karin ate her fill whilst also snatching some of their share. Between arguing with his father and bites from his meal, it felt so normal for him to be here...

...like he never left...

Washing up wasn't hard, Karin took the time to help him dry the dishes as he washed them, silence settled between them as the sound of dishes being filed into the cupboards reached his ears.

"Thanks for coming..." He heard Karin mutter.

"What?" Ichigo paused to turn back to his younger sister.

"Thanks for coming; dad and Yuzu were both happy to see you again." She said as she pushed a plate into the shelf. "... and so am I."

There was no need for response as Karin smiled with her back turned to Ichigo who also smiled warmly. He figured he didn't have to return to his apartment right now, besides it was late and... there was nothing waiting for him.

After numerous board and card games, Yuzu had long since fallen asleep on the table and Isshin had given up due to his poor skill at games, it left Karin and Ichigo to keep playing but she too was falling sleepy and Ichigo called it a night. Karin was able to walk herself to their room whilst Ichigo carried Yuzu in his arms, following closely behind Karin; he laid her on the bed and drew the covers over her body.

"Good night Ichigo..." Yuzu muttered as she tried to fight sleep overcoming her.

"Goodnight." He whispered and walked to the door, flicking the light off and shut the door.

He walked towards his old room; when last had he walked down this passage to his room? He twisted the knob and drew into his room, as plain as he had left it-

Ichigo's eyes dilated and jaw nearly dropped when he found posters of boy bands and celebrities covering the walls. 'I heart...' pasted all over his old room, he pressed his fingers over the bridge of his nose.

"Just ignore it." He told himself as he collapsed onto his old bed, he had thought sleep would've consumed him already but he simply couldn't sleep. He turned his head to a strange sticker that had managed to remain on his old desk: Chappy.

"That damned rabbit follows me everywhere." He muttered indignantly, he was about to pull it off when he remembered the little chappy sketches his assistant- Rukia- would draw on her sheets. "Rukia..."

Maybe that was the reason he found he needed to go somewhere, the emptiness he once endured seemed so crippling all of a sudden, he hated to admit it but he actually missed having to complain about something going wrong because of her.

Staring out at the moon from his bed, he smirked.

"That girl..."

...

A shiver ran down Rukia's spine as she lay awake in bed. "I wonder what Mr Kurosaki could be doing right now? Probably working on his book isn't he?" she smirked.

A part of her felt a little bad for not telling him she was in Sereitei for a while but he wouldn't care to know and besides she technically fired herself... after staining his shirt with her tears. Rukia grimaced at the thought before pulling the pillow beside her and playfully suffocating herself.

"How could you cry on him like that?! Why do you always embarrass yourself like that?!" she questioned herself as she rolled from side to side.

"But... I'm thankful he let me." She whispered before pulling the pillow from her face and shifting to gaze at the silvery moon that shone brighter than usual, she smiled brightly with her violet orbs. "I enjoyed working for you Mr Kurosaki..."

...

Honey brown and violet eyes slowly drifted shut as both fell into their slumber with a small smile etched across their faces and the stars shining brightly above them.

"Goodnight... Mr Kurosaki..."

"Goodnight... Rukia."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

There he was.

His crimson hair wrapped in a bandage as he sucked oxygen once over, the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor continued beside him, closely following was the silence of the drip, giving him fluids as he lay there on the clean sheets.

For a long while, Rukia paced back and forth; moving from the door to the window, checking his flowers and doing everything to keep her from sitting beside him. She fiddled with her bag strap as she pressed her petite frame against the wall beside the window; Unohana was right about the place... it was a really good hospital.

Rukia's dark strands shifted with the small breeze that passed through the room, her unique violet orbs softened on Renji's form. They'd shared a lot of memories and experiences together, the good and bad times all knotted together.

But at the end of the day, they still had each other.

Swallowing deeply, Rukia resisted coughing as she turned her head away and hid her gaze away. Her grip on her strap tightened.

"**Next person to bother Rukia will get it from me!"**

"He's not dead, Rukia." She repeated to herself as she stepped closer towards him, she reached the edge of his bed and a large part of her wanted to scream at him for not being careful on the road and having himself in such a helpless position. At the same time she held firmly to how happy she was that he was okay and that the worst was over.

Briskly brushing over his hand, Rukia silently strolled to the door and with one last glance at his 'sleeping' form, she gently shut the door behind her. A small smile grew on her as she paced down the silent hospital corridor, digging her fists deeper into her pockets, Rukia lifted her head knowing that he'd be fine right here. She pressed the down button for the elevator and waited patiently; noticing from the window that clouds began to form and the trees blew in all directions with the wind.

She was glad that she had brought her jacket today she welcomed the opening of the elevator doors and stepped within it and pressed the ground floor button. Within moments, the elevator doors began sliding shut-

-A firm hand slid between the doors and pulled them apart.

Rukia's gaze shifted from the dark jeans, shirt, over shirt...

"Grimmjow." She muttered with a low voice.

"What's up?" he merely bobbed his head and stepped into the elevator. Rukia took notice of the bandage just above his brow, a small smile etched across her lips. "So how's your boyfriend?"

Twisting her face, Rukia stared up at Grimmjow who held his sadistic smile that always caused shivers to run down the young Kuchiki's spine.

"Boyfriend?" She paused with a confused raise of her brow but before long she seemed to catch on and a mischievous smirk formed. "Ah, Mr Kurosaki?"

"Yeah, the bastard."

"What happened to your face?"

Grimmjow brushed the band aid above his brow, still holding his smirk. "This? I got caught in a little crash. You should see the other guy."

Before she could respond to him, the elevator door slid apart for her exit and Rukia took her chance to leave.

"See ya." He said.

"Yeah..."

The doors began to slid shut behind Rukia when she heard Grimmjow call back; she watched his hand slide the doors open and his sinful smile grew even larger.

"Renji's a tough guy; I'd never have expected him to be comatose but..." He chuckled, his white teeth dangerously showing in an animalistic fashion. "..I'm sure he won't stay down too long."

Rukia nodded her head as she watched the doors slide; a chilling shiver ran down her spine as she stared unblinkingly at the elevator doors.

"**This? I got caught in a little crash. You should see the other guy."**

His proud smirk...

"**Renji's a tough guy; I'd never have expected him to be comatose..."**

His malicious expression...

"**..I'm sure he won't stay down too long."**

Grimmjow...

"Miss?" A warm hand pressed over her shoulder, frightening Rukia who yelped as she turned back. "Miss, are you alight?" a concerned nurse asked.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine." Rukia muttered, slowly moving around the nurse who eyed her with concern.

"You look nervous, maybe you should-"

"I'm fine." Rukia reassured with a false smile, she slowly marched to the exit and the electric doors moved upon her closeness. She fiddled incessantly with her strap as she paced absentmindedly down the walkway.

...

Ichigo rubbed his eyes as he walked towards his door, a small hiss escaped his lips when he bashed his toe against his coffee table. He almost broke the table in two but couldn't find the strength to do that as he limped over his stockpile of papers and discarded sheets.

"What?" Ichigo aggressively drew open his door.

"Well, aren't you happy? On this lovely afternoon." Tatsuki pushed ahead of the bare-chested man and entered his home. Upon entering his apartment, she scowled at the sight. "You have no life."

"Well come on in Tatsuki," Ichigo muttered sarcastically as he kicked the door behind him shut.

"You need to-" Tatsuki began, turning around, only to gaze upon Ichigo running his hand through his untamed hair. His firm toned upper body drawing her attention as he yawned. Tatsuki grabbed the stray shirt on his couch and tossed it at him. "-Firstly, get a shirt on and then... you and I-"

"No..."

"-Are going out."

"Tatsuki, I appreciate the gesture but-" Ichigo yawned loudly, with his hand pressed over the bridge of his nose. "-I'm exhausted. We'll do this soon some other time, and by soon, I mean never."

"I'm not taking no for an answer, now get changed, I'm not letting you sleep the day away."

"Really?" Ichigo's golden brown gaze fell on Tatsuki who held no expression; he rolled his eyes with a groan. "Fine."

The sun had already begun to set and Ichigo found himself sitting before the dark haired female who looked over the drinks menu. He had to admit, the view from the balcony seating was amazing. To have such view over Karakura blew his mind, though he would never admit it. He tapped his fingers absentmindedly against the table as he watched on, ignorant of Tatsuki's gaze upon him.

"What is it?" Tatsuki leaned back into her seat, crossing her legs and gently tucking stray strands behind her ear.

"What is what?" Ichigo responded with little interest whilst still staring away from Tatsuki.

"We've been friends for a pretty damn long time, and I'm sure I'd know when something isn't right with you." She smiled with a small laugh, "You pull that face."

"The scowl?" Ichigo smirked, turning his attention towards her.

"No..." Tatsuki's smile faded, "You have a vacant expression."

A pregnant silence settled between them and once more Ichigo turned to the sunset with little response. That reddish orange hue over the sky enamoured him, where his day was ending, another was beginning elsewhere.

Taking a sip from her wine glass, Tatsuki settled it gently onto the table. "So, where's the newspaper girl?"

"Newspaper girl?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo's love scandal. You didn't tell me you were with someone."

"For the record, there was no love scandal. She was my assistant and- wait- since when did I start explaining myself to you?"

"The boss and assistant? Interesting fetish..."

"Shut up, Tatsuki." Ichigo laughed lightly, taking a sip from his chilled drink.

"So where is she?" Tatsuki pried, "I mean, for an assistant, she isn't doing much of a good job if your place looks as bad as it does now. I mean you have no organisation whatsoever."

Ichigo swallowed deeply whilst looking down at the liquid in his glass, "She quit."

"You don't look too happy about it."

A sigh escaped Ichigo's lips, with no response on his part. To pretend that he wasn't concerned about her-

Ichigo's hand moved to his phone that vibrated on the seat, he looked up at Tatsuki who smiled and nodded her head. Ichigo nodded and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Mr Kurosaki, this is Soi-fon, Miss Shihoins's personal assistant. I'm calling to confirm on Miss Shihoin's behalf that you will be attending the future Shiba's wedding?"

"Crap, I forgot about that." Ichigo pressed his fingers over the bridge of his nose. "Either way, I won't be attending."

"Mr Kurosaki, perhaps you don't understand: I'm calling to inform you that you **will** be attending that wedding as a representative for the company." Soi-fon's voice deepened slightly, he heard the click of a pen. "I was asked to question whether you would prefer an overnight flight?"

"What?"

"Overnight flight it is, Mr Kurosaki. You do recall that the wedding will take place in Sereitei, so you'll have reservation in Hiruka hotel, I'll ensure that a chauffeur is ready and waiting for you upon arrival. Good evening."

"No- wait- I didn't-"

A monotonous ring sounded in the dumbstruck Kurosaki's ear, he aggressively ran a hand through his head with a frustrated groan. Damn that woman!

"Something wrong?" Tatsuki asked.

"No- its getting dark and I need to get back."

"I'll stay a while longer." Tatsuki sighed with a small smile, "You go on."

Ichigo nodded his head and quickly lifted himself from his seat; he patted Tatsuki over the shoulder before making his way out.

"Ichigo?" Tatsuki called, turning to offer him a sideways glance. "Take care..."

"See ya."

...

The sound of high heeled footsteps reached the ear of the teal haired man who held his hands deep within his denim pockets and a defiant glint in his eyes. The woman marched towards him with a deceptively sweet smile, her orange tresses flowing with each step she took towards him.

"Grimmjow, you must be exhausted after your arduous flight." The woman cooed as she circled him. He gave no response to her and merely turned his head away from her, though it did little to faze her. "And look, your face is messed up."

He cringed slightly when she harshly pressed her finger over the stitches above his eye.

"Did that hurt?" she whispered with an unnerving softness.

"What do you want, Orihime?" He finally spoke. Orihime quirked a brow and with a small smile, she stepped away from him. Her eyes surveying his apartment, she nodded her head as she regarded his place.

"Nothing really..." she mused. "Did you clean up?"

Grimmjow reached for the keys on the table beside him, he tossed them over to Orihime.

"That's all that's left of the car. I may not like Renji but I damn well didn't enjoy running the guy over... a little dramatic don't you think?"

"That's not your concern, now is it?" Orihime mused as she tossed the keys into her bag.

"Whatever you say. Look, I'm done with this. I ain't Aizen's pet no more so both of ya'll can-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the door was slammed shut, announcing Orihime's exit. The cerulean eyed man rolled his tongue over his teeth with a dark expression.

"The shit I get myself into..."

...

Exhaling after his long flight, Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and switched it on. He had come to receive several calls from Yoruichi and some from his sister though he decided he'd call back when he arrived at his hotel. He briefly scanned the airport when he found a man holding a small sign board with his name printed over the sheet. He sighed and walked over to the man, dragging his small suitcase behind himself.

"Mr Kurosaki?" the man began and Ichigo nodded his head. The man quickly took his suitcase and they walked over to the car that Soi-fon had so kindly prepared for him. Ichigo quickly got into the back seat and ran a hand through his hair with lidded eyes as the chauffer packed his bag into the boot and then took to the driving seat.

Breathing softly, Ichigo hadn't been able to catch much sleep on the flight so he was more than ready to just get to the damn hotel and rest. He mentally cringed at the thought of going to Kaien's wedding in three days but nevertheless he had no choice.

"Mr Kurosaki?" the driver called.

"Mm?" He responded with his eyes still closed and a raised brow.

"Ms Shihoin asked that I hand you this note upon your arrival, sir." The driver spoke, forcing Ichigo to open his eyes and reach out for the note.

Ichigo leaned back into his previous position as he observed the note at hand:

**Kurosaki-boy.**

**I'll be out of the country on business so I won't be able to be at the wedding. Congratulate Kaien and Miyako on my behalf.**

**Oh, have a great time in Sereitei!**

**Yoruichi S.**

Ichigo scowled at the note before crushing it within his palm and hanging his head over the seat. He'd give Yoruichi a mouthful later but only after a well deserved long rest.

They had arrived at the chosen hotel and Ichigo thanked the driver who assisted him in getting his suitcase and informed Ichigo that he could call him at anytime he needed to travel somewhere, soon after he departed and Ichigo walked into the hotel.

He was impressed with the elegance of the place, he half expected Soi-fon to be spiteful and book him in a dingy place but she had exceeded his expectation. He moved to the counter and addressed the woman.

"Reservation for Ichigo Kurosaki?" he spoke and watched as the woman blushed slightly as she typed away on her computer. She pulled out a clipboard and placed the keys on it. Ichigo checked himself in and took the keys with a small smile and thanked the woman, who turned a deeper shade of red and nodded her head.

He pressed the elevator button for his desired floor, he tapped his foot impatiently as he waited to reach his floor and when the doors finally slid apart for him, he quickly searched the door numbers for his own and when he had finally found it, he unlocked the door, shutting it behind himself and hadn't bothered to unpack his items but rather searched for the bedroom and quickly collapsed onto the bed.

...

The sun had set and Rukia had returned to the hotel after a long day, she waved with a small smile towards the receptionists before moving towards the elevator doors. She pressed the upwards button and waited a while...

...

After his well deserved rest and shower, Ichigo figured he may well go downstairs to have dinner. He pulled on his over shirt before leaving and shutting the door behind him. He casually marched to the elevator, pressed the downwards button and the doors quickly opened for him to enter. He pressed the first floor button and watched as the door slid together once more and descended.

...

"This is taking forever!" Rukia whispered loudly and the elevator doors slid apart-

"Finally." She muttered and moved towards the second elevator that had now opened, seconds after her entrance the first elevator doors separated as hers slid shut.

Ichigo stepped out of the elevator as he tucked his key deep within his back pocket and moved towards the dining area.

...

**It's been so long since last I updated here! Woah! I'm sorry for the long wait but I promise I'll try and get the next update sooner than this one.**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"-Kaien?"

"Kaien?"

The young man stared with a furrowed gaze as the car moved on and buildings blurred through his vision, his fingers tapped nonchalantly on his thigh.

"Kaien, are you listening to me?"

At the words from the woman beside him, he snapped out of his thoughts and turned his gaze towards his fiancé with a dashing grin.

"I'm sorry, my mind was elsewhere. You were saying?"

She frowned at his blatant response and leaned back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest and gazing out of her own window. Smiling, Kaien moved to draw her face to him; he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her own. He brushed his hand through her hair as he pulled away and pressed his forehead against her own.

"I'm sorry, from now on, I'm all ears." He spoke softly, melting Miyako's heart, she smiled and nodded before she proceeded to speak to him about the wedding again. Kaien nodded where needed and smiled where applicable, meanwhile his mind had long since removed itself.

...

Bearing a nervous disposition with hands shoved within the depths of her jean pockets, Rukia found herself wandering aimlessly around the walls of Sereitei University. The visitor tag around her neck dangled and swayed with the occasional wind that blew but none of this was noticed by the young Kuchiki who stared bewilderedly at the beautifully designed facility.

Her dream was staring at her in the face, the one place she had wished to come to. Her dreams had soon been crushed when she realised she had no funds that would enable her to attend the prestigious university.

It was midst her walk that a couple of students had walked past her and the female wasted little time in staring Rukia down before she flicked her hair over her shoulder and continued her chat with the other beside her. Rukia furrowed her brows and took a brisk glance at her attire, she didn't look any different: jeans, a shirt and her bag.

"That girl-" Rukia began muttering to herself. She scowled briefly before turning around and coming face first into a mountain of paperwork. Her immediate response was to apologise but she had put that on hold as she quickly moved to pick the scattered sheets.

"Pardon me, I didn't see you there." She heard a gentle voice as she reached for another sheet.

"No need to apologise, it's my fault." Rukia responded and lifted herself from the ground, she watched white hair fall over the man's shoulder as he reached for another sheet. He briefly brushed the strands back and placed the sheet over the pile he had stacked once more.

He lifted the pile into his arms and Rukia was finally able to get a better look at his form. The man wore a large white coat over his clothing, the coat almost if not completely matched the colour of his hair. He smiled frailly at Rukia, silently instructing her to place the handful she held on top of his pile.

"Oh, sorry." She moved to place the papers above the pile but stopped short, barely taking the time to think, she smiled up to him warmly. "How about I lend you a hand there?"

He smiled at her in response, "The help would be much appreciated."

Rukia removed some from his pile and carried them with her as she let him lead her, she maintained the distance between their footsteps. He was always at least three steps ahead of her.

"I see you're a visitor, do you intend to apply to Sereitei?" The man whom she knew not of but insisted she assist finally spoke as they turned a corner.

"Oh no, the application period is already over. There is no way I'd get in." Even if I wanted to...

"There are always exceptions." He said briefly.

For the rich.

For a moment, both were silent until they stopped at a room and the man opened the door which led into a large auditorium with a table at the side and a podium in the centre. He led her to the table and placed his load on it first, he pulled the load from her arms and placed them atop.

"Thank you for the help." The man smiled and his long hair shifted with the tilt of his head. He reached a hand out and Rukia reached her hand in response. Her cold and small hand was encompassed by his larger and warmer hand. "Professor Ukitake, it's a pleasure to meet you-?"

"-Uh-Rukia Kuchiki."

"Rukia Kuchiki?" He seemed to play with the words over his tongue but then smiled and released her hand. "Once more, thank you for the-"

"No need," Rukia smiled tentatively, bowing respectfully, she looked back at the man. "I'll be taking my leave. Good bye professor."

"Yes." He nodded and watched the girl leave. Ukitake held a puzzled expression over his face; he had been very tempted many a time in the short period he had met the girl to call her Hisana. The striking resemblance was near unbelievable; Byakuya had mentioned none of this when last he saw the younger man.

"Rukia... Kuchiki."

...

"So I went to Sereitei University today." Rukia spoke with her hands wrapped around the hard hand belonging to her best friend who inhaled with lidded eyes. "You should've seen how massive the place was. It was so beautiful..."

Silence.

"And I met a professor as well... though I don't remember his name anymore. He had the strangest hair colour. His hair was white... it seemed to suit him really well."

Silence.

"It's a bit chilly in here." Rukia mused to herself; she raised herself from her seat with the intention of moving to the window. "I'll just shut the-"

A quick gasp left Rukia's lips when she felt the hand belonging to her crimson haired friend momentarily squeezed her fingers. The fleeting sensation of his hand weakly grabbing hold of her made Rukia forget all about her initial desire of closing the window.

"Just wake up already..." Rukia whispered, pulling the seat closer to Renji and all the while never letting go of his hand. It wasn't the first time he grasped her hand but each time he did, it left her even more hopeful. She smiled meekly and rested her head on the bed with their hands entwined as a pillow beneath her.

They sat in that position for what appeared to be hours, and before Rukia knew it, she had to leave. She chose to walk the way home, it was a bit late, the sun was setting but she figured her sleepy legs needed the work. With her hands tucked into her pockets, she exhaled deeply and began her walk.

Her dark bangs shifted with the gentle spring breeze, the flowers were already blooming beautifully, and from the view in the hospital the gorgeous colours beautified Sereitei. Rukia trudged along, following the straight path ahead of her. She'd occasionally window shop and stare at the inner contents of some shops in bemusement, she was passing by a television store and from the window she could see multiple screens displaying the same imagery:

A woman's small hand with a large diamond ring over her ring finger. She held a bright smile over her face as she stared up with the beautiful flowery background behind her.

A man wrapped his arm around the woman, seeming to draw her closer; he stared down at her with a piercing glare. One would assume they were deeply in love with one another.

**Kaien and Miyako.**

**Wedding in two days.**

Rukia stared at the headlines intently and swallowed. Her fingers reached to the glass when the screen shifted to pictures of Kaien Shiba, dressed in a suit with his pearly grin towards the camera. She pressed her hand on the glass and stared for a long while, watching as he smiled with her beside him in most pictures. Smiling at Miyako the same way he'd smile at her...

Rukia lowered her head and pulled her hand to hang lifelessly at her side. The once gentle breeze seemed suffocating as she breathed silently.

"Kuchiki? Is that you?"

Lifting her head at the sound of a voice calling to her, Rukia turned to meet the unwavering gaze of Uryuu Ishida.

"Ah! Mr Ishida..." Rukia bowed briefly, "What are you doing here?"

He fixed his spectacles over the bridge of his nose and approached Rukia, he had been to visit his father and as expected, it was a vain attempt to compile a decent father-son relationship. On both parts that is. Though aside from that, he had received his invitation to-

"Their wedding is highly publicised, far too unnecessary." Uryuu mumbled as he adjusted his spectacles.

"I guess." Rukia muttered seemingly to herself but was heard by Ishida. His eyes snapped to the girl beside him and he stared at her transfixed expression, he couldn't decipher the look she had: was she sad? Happy? He simply couldn't tell which it was, she just stared ahead.

"Kuchiki, how about we get something warm to drink?" Uryuu offered and drew Rukia's attention away from the screens. "There's a cafe around here."

The girl stared at him for a while before her lips curved into a small smile. "Sure, Mr Ishida."

He smiled back as she stepped to stand beside him and they began their walk, "Please, just call me Uryuu. You make me feel old when you call me Mr Ishida."

Rukia nodded her head with a smile. She knew that if she spoke she would have said 'Mr Ishida' at the end so she resided in her silence. As Uryuu promised, he had bought them both coffee and during their walk they had come to find themselves seated on the grass beside a lake, bizarrely Uryuu mentioned he didn't have her cell number and so they silently exchanged their numbers.

The dark atmosphere made the stars shine brighter, besides staring at the stars and the flowing water she occasionally took sips of her warm drink.

"So Kuchiki, what are you doing in Sereitei?" Uryuu broke the silence whilst shielding his eyes through his spectacles. Rukia stiffened a bit and choked on her coffee. Uryuu offered her his handkerchief to wipe her lips but she muttered something about not needing it.

"T-Taking care of a friend, you could say." She finally responded. Uryuu parted his lips, he contemplated saying something to Rukia but then he pictured Orihime... Uryuu sealed his lips and swallowed. Rukia noted how hard his jaw tightened when he swallowed and said nothing of it.

"Kuchiki, tell me, have you ever loved someone?" Uryuu asked out of the blue, Rukia stared at him and noted his expressionless demeanour. He stared straight ahead with little emotion shown and Rukia smiled briefly before turning to stare ahead with him.

"Yep."

"What happened?"

"He found someone else..." Rukia sighed with a weak smile and took another sip, "Yep, he found someone else."

"Do you still love him?"

This startled Rukia, her eyes widened and she snapped her gaze to Uryuu who still held no expression. She began to fiddle with her fingers, her mind contemplating his question.

"Well-" she began.

"I loved someone too." He said, lifting the cup to his lips with a smirk. "I still love her..."

"You say it like it's a sad thing." Rukia half smiled.

"Unrequited love **is** a sad thing Kuchiki." He said. For a while they both sat in silence, neither party saying a word to the other but it was a comfortable silence. Rukia would occasionally gaze at Uryuu, realizing how she would never have considered him to be the 'unrequited love' type of guy.

"Kuchiki, would you protect the person you love even if it tortures you?"

Rukia thought back to the moment where she had saved the last bit of dignity Kaien still had in her eyes.

"**I'm with the Karakura hotspot magazine and I was walking by when I caught sight of the dashing Kaien Shiba, I was wondering if I could get an interview with him when you stopped by!"**

"If it affects someone else... then I would. I would do it over and over again." Rukia had no idea what she was saying anymore but the words simply flowed from her lips. For a moment she realized that she had had a conversation along these lines with Mr Kurosaki.

"**Rukia, tell me, if you were given the choice to know about something that would hurt you... would you still want to know?"**

"**It's better to live knowing the truth than to keep second guessing, isn't it?"** **Rukia answered.**

Ishida gave no response but exhaled and lifted himself from the ground; he offered Rukia a hand and aided her to her feet. "It's late, we should get you home now shouldn't we?"

The walk to the hotel was comfortable, they made small chat here and there and upon arrival Uryuu held a strange expression.

"This place seems fairly familiar..." he mumbled as he led Rukia to the elevators. She pressed the button and smiled slightly.

"Uryuu." A familiar voice called out and Ishida turned around with his back turned to Rukia, Rukia peeped over his shoulder at the voice and her eyes widened beyond measure.

"Kurosaki..." he replied dryly.

Mr Kurosaki!

What is he doing here!?

Rukia watched as he took more steps towards them, he clearly hadn't noticed she was behind Uryuu as he said nothing. The elevator doors slid open and Rukia took her opportunity and jumped right in, Uryuu turned to her, looking with a puzzled expression. Rukia mouthed a small 'I'm tired, going to bed' and bowed before the doors slid closed.

"What are you staring at?" Ichigo asked with a quirked brow. Uryuu snapped out of his confusion and smirked.

"Nothing, just seeing a friend off."

Uryuu resisted the urge to laugh; clearly his assistant had no idea that she was sharing a hotel with her boss. If she had gotten any bigger a fright, her heart surely would've burst right out of her chest.

"So who were you with that couldn't be bothered to offer a greeting?"

"You'll find out soon enough Kurosaki." He replied and stalked off with a small wave goodbye. He had barely gotten out of the door when his phone began to ring in his pocket; he answered the call and pressed the device to his ear.

"Hel-"

"Mr Ishida! Are you still with Mr Ichigo?" Rukia asked quickly, with rushed breaths.

"No he-"

"Did you tell him I'm here?"

"No, I-"

"Thank goodness, thank you Mr Ishida. Um, have a good evening." She spoke and muttered a goodbye before leaving a speechless Uryuu behind, he smirked as he tucked the phone into his pocket.

Shaking his head with a smirk, he exhaled deeply. "That Kuchiki girl is something else..."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Rukia drew her hood over her face in an 'unsuspicious' manner whilst at the same time glancing over her shoulder as a result of her paranoia.

"Of all the places he could have chosen to stay at, he chose this place." Rukia muttered beneath her breath as she paced herself in her walk to the reception desk. She glanced sideways before lowering her hood slightly to speak to the woman before her.

"Uh- hi-" she began when a shadow stood beside her.

"Hi." A deep voice spoke beside her and Rukia quickly forced her hood over her once more, from the small vision she was able to get of the receptionist before her, she had an extremely hearty glint in her eyes.

"Ah! Good evening Mr Kurosaki!"

For a moment, Rukia felt her heart explode into several pieces purely out of shock.

"Uh- yeah- there was a package delivered for me?" he questioned and Rukia noted the quick hand exchange, it was as soon as she saw their hands part from one another that she decided she'd casually slip away and come back later.

One step, two steps, three steps, fou-

"Ah! Rukia! Didn't you come to collect your package?" The receptionist called out all too loudly, surprising Rukia who froze in her place.

Why? Why is always me?

"Rukia?" she heard the male call.

What do I do? I can't just stand here!

Rukia shut her eyes tightly and whilst contemplating her current situation, she wished the earth could simply open up and swallow her whole. With a deep exhale, she slowly reversed towards the table, and extended her hand whilst keeping part of her face covered by the hood. The receptionist slowly placed the small wrapped box into Rukia's waiting hand with a cocked head as she stared at the woman strangely.

Rukia quickly retracted her hand and took a step forward; it was as she reached to plant her foot once more on the ground that she felt a tug at her hood and then- the world suddenly became brighter.

She felt a small are through her hair where the hood once sat and her eyes widened, she hesitantly tilted her head and merely caught the glimpse of an orange mane.

She gulped.

"Hello Rukia?"

"H-Hello Mr. Kurosaki?"

"Nice seeing the back of your head." He started with a hint of sarcasm in his voice; Rukia blinked and paced herself as she slowly turned around to face him. It barely took her five seconds to turn around but those mere five seconds seemed to be the longest of her life.

She came to find him standing a few steps from her, staring at her in an unblinking manner. She couldn't read his expression and so deciding how to play the situation of was difficult. Should she laugh it away and make it a casual situation or keep the atmosphere between them dull and lifeless.

"Long time no see, Mr Kurosaki!" Rukia figured she'd cast him a bright smile and try to play it off in a lively manner ...but as she came to read his expression, he had little a smirk on his face as he stared down at her.

He glanced to the receptionist that stared at them in confusion and snapped his gaze back to Rukia, moving towards her, he grabbed her wrist from where it hung and began to drag her body behind him. She didn't resist his gentle pull as he led her out of the building, his loose grip tightened momentarily as though he was testing if he really was holding onto her.

The sun had set in the distance and street lights shone on the pavements, Ichigo had finally reached a stop but still held onto her wrist, she stared at his hardened back and could see his jaw tighten.

"Mr Kurosaki?" She whispered and instantly, Ichigo had released her wrist. He moved his hand into his pocket and before Rukia had a chance to call out to him, he turned back to her.

"Mr Kurosaki- I-?"

"You look better than you did last time." He said coldly and Rukia snapped her head up to him expecting to see nothing less than his scowl and apathetic expression but was surprised when she came to see his eyes soften on her. She nodded her head briefly.

"Mr Kurosaki- there's-" Rukia began when she felt strong hands envelop her, shifting her from her feet and drawing her closer to the hardened form before her. She inhaled the musky cologne scent she recognised could only belong to Ichigo as her head pressed into his shirt that she could almost hear his heartbeat. She had lost her voice, and her body was paralysed and all she could do was breathe him in.

"You know I'm not fond of this..." he whispered into her ear, whilst drawing her closer to him. "...but just once, I think it's appropriate."

...

It wasn't long before they had walked to a small park, she had eagerly moved to the swings and Ichigo begrudgingly followed after her as she sat in one and slowly moved her feet to move her backwards and forth. Ichigo moved to sit in the swing beside her but he remained unmoving, he turned his head to see Rukia smiling slightly.

"Still like a child." He muttered to himself and turned away.

"Did you say something?" She questioned innocently and Ichigo shook his head. Feeling the need to lighten the atmosphere, Rukia smiled brightly. "So did you miss me Mr. Kurosaki?"

"No." He answered stoically then tilted his head to face her with a smirk, "I didn't have to worry about a clumsy assistant so I was quite alright."

She fought the need to pout and continued swinging slowly.

"So are you here for Mr Shiba's wedding tomorrow?" Rukia questioned before thinking and her feet stopped moving.

"Yes." He answered briefly before turning his piercing gaze to her. "And you're coming with me."

"W-What?"

"I want you to watch him marry her." He spoke dryly, "And then, it's the end of your chapter with him."

"I don't want-"

"-You still let his very name cause a stir within yourself, are you planning to live like this for the rest of your life?" He sharply called out resisting the urge to raise his voice.

"Isn't it the same with you and Ms Inoue?" Rukia spat back at him, causing him to snap his head in her direction but she wasn't looking at him. "Every time you see her, even I can tell that she still affects you. You want me to close my chapter with Kaien and yet you still refuse to close your own with Ms Inoue."

Ichigo widened his eyes at the words of the woman beside him. She had somehow managed to leave him speechless.

"Mr Kurosaki, no matter what it was that Ms Inoue did to you, no matter how badly she hurt you, the only one to blame for your hard-hearted nature is yourself." She spoke sincerely. "Kaien hurt me deeply, and no matter how much I wish I could forget it, I can't. And even so, I'm not going to change who I am because of him."

Ichigo thought back to his high school days and remembered the image of a boy who would laugh, be playfully tormented by his friends and father. When had he become this way- unfeeling and closed to emotions. And whilst he battled his inner demons-

**When had this girl beside him grown into a woman? **

He watched her swing back and forth silently, her hair flailing with the small breeze and her eyes closed in bliss as she listened to the sound of the night.

**Was it only now that he realised his heart would skip a beat when he thought of her? **

His hand bawled into a fist.

**When was it that she had managed to break the walls surrounding him when she struggled to stand on her own feet without stumbling?**

He lifted himself from the swing.

**Was it only now that he realised that he pained in silence when she had left without a word?**

He moved towards her.

**When did she become someone worth remembering to him?**

He placed his hands on either side of her shoulder, Rukia's eyes snapped open at his sudden touch and before she had a chance to react, she felt the softness of Ichigo's lips press against her own. His warm, tender lips caressed hers like a pillow as his eyes remained lidded as though he was holding onto this moment for dear life. A tear snaked its way down his face and splattered on the back of her palm.

**When was it that he started to feel so much more for this woman?**

...

**I feel I may not be able to update for a while so I figured 'just one more chapter wouldn't hurt'. It's all IchiRuki for this one (sorry!). Would love to know what you think so... Review!**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

**Decided to update earlier than expected, so hope you enjoy the chapter.**

...

Rukia stared up at the carvings of her bedroom ceiling, she stared at each intricate wave that swirled and twisted to form the shapes above her and as her eyes followed the designs through, her back pressed closely to the soft duvets beneath her and arms outstretched.

'He kissed me...'

Rukia slowly blinked and all at once she could feel the sensation of his touch and the warmth of his breath on her. She could feel his gentle hands pressed to her shoulders, squeezing gently and intimately. Her heart leapt in her chest with a tightness that caused her to reach her hand to her chest.

She shifted her weight to her side, crouching into foetal position to stare out of her window; the moon stared back at her with its elegant shimmer into the dark room.

...

Exhaling deeply, Ichigo dug his hands into his pockets as he made his way to his balcony. The night air was cooler than within and as he moved to the rails, catching the bright lights the glimmered in the evening, his mind pondered a million thoughts at the same time. He released a deep sigh, placing his hands over the cold bars as he shut his eyes and breathed in only to exhale once more.

"What was I thinking?" he whispered, scolding himself as his hands balled into fists around the metal.

**Ichigo pulled away from her lips half-heartedly with a lingering desire to kiss her once again but as he lifted his honey brown gaze at her, he came to stare into her eyes widened in shock with lips apart as she tried to formulate words but none came.**

**Rukia dropped her head and reached her hands to touch his, she gently placed her palms on his and peeled them from her shoulders whilst lifting herself from the swing, her gaze cast away from him as Ichigo stepped away to give her space.**

"**M-Mr Kurosaki-" she began but paused. **

**Ichigo internally begged for her to speak, to say anything as his eyes searched for her own but could not see them behind her thick shield of hair. She dropped her hands to her sides and he watched her lips curve into a sad smile.**

"**It's late..." she spoke in a soft whisper, "I'll head back."**

**And that was all she said before she retreated, turning her back to him and following step for step away from him. Not once turning back to him as he stood frozen in place. All of him screamed to move to her, to call to her to do something but... there was just that one part of him that whispered for him to stay still and all the time he watched her walk away, his feet remained rooted in place. **

"**Wait..." he whispered, as she continued away.**

Thinking on the look she had given him, her eyes widened in what he couldn't decide whether distaste, shame or shock left a hollow imprint in his chest that he couldn't seem to find the right words to label. His gaze found the bright moon that loomed above and he scowled before turning his back on it to stare into his room.

As though the moon sung a coercing song with the wind, he fought to distance his gaze from the shinning globe in the sky but he fought in vain as though he were drawn to it and he was, turning his body back to face the bright light that outshined the stars that scattered around it.

"Rukia... I-I-" he contemplated what he'd say when next he saw her but couldn't find the words. Running a hand through his orange mane, he breathed in and out before retiring for the evening. Tomorrow would bring another day...

...

A buzz stirred Ichigo from his sleep, turning his head to ignore it the noise persisted and he lifted his pillow to cover his head but once more it continued until he sprung from his warm sheets and reached for his phone, pressing the object to his ear, he muttered a less than friendly greeting.

"A bright and beautiful afternoon to you as well, Kurosaki-boy." Yoruichi purred from the other end with humour dripping from her voice at his expense. It was already midday, he hadn't realised he had slept through the morning.

"What is it you want now?" Ichigo slurred as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the covers shifted from his bare chest. He brushed the wayward strands from his forehead with his eyes shut.

"I just wanted to remind you not to 'forget' to attend Kaiens wedding..."

'That's right... Kaien was getting married on this day and Rukia-'

"...Ichigo."

"What?" he murmured snapping away from his thoughts only to hear Yoruichi groan in response.

"I said to try to look happy, you're my best writer, don't disgrace me." She said once more before giving a goodbye and hanging the phone up. After setting the phone beside him, he released a heavy sigh before covering himself with the sheets and drifting to sleep. He still had time before getting ready for Kaiens wedding.

...

"And, I didn't know what to say." Rukia whispered into the hand entwined with her own, "I just-" she sighed once more.

She wished he would at least say something but as per usual, he remained silent, inhaling with little response.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

Rukia's head lifted at the sound of someone's entrance into the room. Her eyes widened at the form that entered the room and she immediately sprung up, bowing respectfully.

"I hope I'm not disturbing?"

"No, of course not, Hisana." Rukia responded, lifting her head and meeting the warm smile of her elder sister who extended a bouquet of flowers towards her. Rukia gratefully received them, placing them on the counter beside Renji whilst making a mental note to bring a vase to put them in.

"He looks much better." Hisana mused with a caring expression on her face.

"He gets better every day... or so I'd like to believe." Rukia said, "And it's thanks to you."

"No Rukia, I told you, no need for thanks." Hisana exhaled deeply and Rukia came to furrow her brows at her sisters' pale figure, almost sickly. It wasn't long before she brought a handkerchief to her lips and coughed deeply into the cloth, when Rukia noticed that Hisana wasn't stopping she moved to fill a glass of water and walked towards her sister, guiding her to a seat and handed her the glass. Rukia's body crouched to Hisana's level, still holding her arm.

"Thank you." Hisana said before taking a gulp from the liquid, Rukia watched her swallow deeply and hoped it soothed her throat. Upon holding her sisters' arm, Rukia came to notice how fragile Hisana was.

"Are you unwell?" She asked.

"No, I've always been like this- well since the moment I-" Hisana mused sadly but quickly changed to smile, placing the glass in Rukia's hands. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Rukia nodded her head, "Forgive me for asking this but... why are you here?"

"I arrived in Sereitei yesterday with Byakuya and figured I'd visit you, when you weren't at the hotel, I decided I'd probably find you here and I did."

"I see."

Hisana's gaze shifted to her wristwatch and she exhaled depressively, "I must go, my husband will be attending an associates' wedding soon and I wanted to accompany him. I feel he would be worried if he doesn't find me at home so I must leave now."

"I see." Rukia aided Hisana in standing up, they made the short journey near the door. An awkward silence filled the space between them as Rukia turned to face Hisana who did the same; Hisana reached her hand to shake her sister's hand figuring that that would be the most comfortable thing between them.

Rukia stared at the outstretched hand unresponsively, Hisana exhaled silently with a sad smile and she withdrew her hand. Casually bringing that hand to brush stray strands of hair from her face.

"I'll take my leave." She spoke softly in a dejected voice. She took a step to walk out of the door.

"Hisana?" Rukia called and as she turned around to answer her sisters' call, her eyes widened in surprise as Rukia's arms wrapped around her, her head digging into her collarbone. Hisana's breath caught in her throat at Rukia's action and her arms weakly lifted to return her sisters embrace, resting their heads together as Hisana embraced her tightly as though she were making up for all the years she missed out on.

"It was nice to see you... Hisana." Rukia whispered. Hisana's throat clenched and she found her vision blur as tears welled up, threatening to fall from her eyes, she pressed her head against Rukia's as her heart fluttered in her chest.

Byakuya stood outside with his back pressed against the wall a few steps away from the door, his eyes shut as though he were in peaceful slumber as he listened. So the girl was Hisana's sister? Lifting himself from his position he made his way to the elevator, he would let them have their moment, Hisana would be fine as far as he could tell...

Rukia pulled away, watched as Hisana brushed the wetness in her eyes away. They stared at one another and an awkward silence separated them.

"I have to go." Hisana said with a half smile and Rukia nodded her head with a smile. She moved back to the door and with one last glance back at her sister, she smiled. "Bye Rukia."

"Bye."

The door shifted shut silently behind Hisana and Rukia smiled, her hands reached up to touch her warm cheeks and she moved to the window, opening it to allow air in and allowed the wind to cool her face.

...

"Mr Kurosaki." The chauffer had the door opened for Ichigo who fixed his tie. "Are you ready to go?"

"No, not yet." Ichigo answered, staring into the hotel. "I'm waiting for someone."

"Of course sir." He answered in a remote voice.

Come on, Rukia...

...

**Next chapter will be the final chapter...**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

**This is most definitely going to be the longest chapter in the story so good luck and enjoy!**

Feet raced to and fro within the large room as bridesmaids rushed to get their friend ready for her big day. A hair stylist fussed over Miyako who appeared as though she hadn't had a wink of sleep the night before, her hair was wrapped in a towel above her with small droplets of water running along her ear.

"Wait- Miyako, which shoes did you say you were going to wear?" A friend, Kiyone, drew her attention away and Miyako came to see her holding up two sets of shoes. Just as she was about to speak, the hairstylist gently forced Miyako to face forward.

"The-The silver ones look better with the dress." She said as the stylist rubbed the towel through her hair.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see sun preparing to set in the distance and inhaled before exhaling deeply.

This day...

Her wedding day...

Everything had been planned perfectly; from the venue to the tiniest details in the decor. Initially Kaien had wanted to have a traditional Japanese wedding; she'd wear the simple white kimono and he'd wear the black. They'd invite family members and close relatives, they'd have the sake drinking ritual and exchange rings and complete the rest of the marriage customs.

"_Why go through so much for one day?"_ he had said with a charming grin.

This one day...

There was an aching pain in her chest when she contemplated it, the reason she had fussed over having a larger ceremony was because this one day would be the day she'd always dreamt of, it meant the world to her that for once she would be first and most important on that one day. The atmosphere was as she dreamed it would be; the day was beautiful, her dress ready and prepared for her to step into, make-up and hair would soon be complete and then...

...then she'd walk the path that led to her waiting groom who'd bow his head to her father respectfully before taking her hand and pulling her to him to declare their love and undying commitment to one another. He'd smile and tell her she looked beautiful and she'd have no choice but to hold her head down to cover her reddened cheeks.

The hairstylists hand gently forced Miyako to lift her head, she apologised weakly with a smile as the hairstylist continued to work through her hair. It wasn't long before Kiyone ran to her, slipping the heels onto her feet and darting out of the room hastily as she muttered something about making sure Sentaro didn't forget anything for the groomsmen.

Miyako smiled softly, although she had everything planned for this day, within the depths of her heart, she felt she was missing something. Her head bowed slightly and once more the hairstylist forced her head upright with a soft grunt. Since the moment Kaien and her began dating, she had felt that he had done all he could to show his affection towards her, treating her as lovingly as he could.

Though Miyako felt she could be called anything, but dense was not one of them. In all the moments they had shared together, Miyako felt she could never shift the thick boulder that barricaded her from reaching Kaien's heart and having it to herself. It seemed that no matter how much he reassured her that he cared deeply for her, there was someone he **loved**. She couldn't explain the sudden shimmer of life his gaze held when he'd glance at his phone and receive a text, sometimes he'd become unexplainably happy like a child impatiently waiting for something and other times he'd have that immovable smirk plastered on his face.

She soon found herself jealous but never bold enough to confront this person let alone find out who this person is, Kaien hadn't exactly pursued her out of loves sake but rather them being together was purely for business' sake between their parents but Kaien had said he wanted to make things work between them. He said he'd eventually hope for love in their relationship. So there was no way she'd be the one to confront who was making him happier than she ever could, as much as she did not act on her desire to hold Kaien to herself... she prayed for it.

And ultimately she had received what she had asked for... but at a solemn price.

That childlike smile disappeared and she'd come to find him gazing at his phone expectantly, other times he'd try to call but upon not receiving an answer, would sigh and lower the item with a pained expression plastered on his face. Needless to say, his attention would shift towards her and he'd have **that** smile. The smile she hated, the one that always said 'I'm trying my best to care for you but you won't be the one I love.'

Miyako gulped and blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes; she chastised herself for having such thoughts on a day like this. She should be happy- no- she **would** be happy.

"All done, time to get in the dress and have make-up hun'" Miyako stared at her neatly done hair with subtle curls that sneaked from around her hair slicked back into a bun, admittedly even without make-up, she felt ready to get married at once. Miyako smiled and turned her head to her dress that hung in wait for her and she exhaled before standing up and moving to the dress.

"Let's do this."

...

Ichigo tapped his foot and gazed at his watch before pacing back and forth on the concrete; he had grown tired of standing in one position and now waited expectantly on her to appear. His hands buried themselves in the pockets of his suit that Rangiku had promptly selected for him and instructed him to wear after threatening him with the fact that she'd be at the wedding as well so she'd know if he didn't wear the suit.

"Perhaps sir, this woman is not going to show up..." the chauffer said and Ichigo glanced once more at his wrist watch, he still had time and so he'd wait.

"We've got at least an hour." he answered briefly, his brows furrowing slightly as he breathed deeply. Leaning back against the car, Ichigo sighed and stared at nothing in particular. Switching positions from leaning against the car to staring at the direction he presumed she'd come from after asking reception and was told she had left already.

And sure enough, the hour flew by faster than he had expected.

"Sir?"

Lifting himself from his position on the wall, Ichigo glanced once more down the road and shut his eyes as he moved into the seat of the car, shutting it after his entrance and immediately the chauffer burst into the driver's side and revved the engine. With one last glance behind him, his gaze softened and jaw tightened before he turned around telling himself not to look back again.

A vibration in his inner pocket forced Ichigo to dip his hand into the pocket and he moved the phone to his ear with little expression on his face as he answered a brief greeting.

"Where on earth are you? Rangiku is hunting you down and for all that's good don't tell me-"

"I'm on my way." He answered.

"With Rukia, I presume?"

"..."

"I see, Ichigo-"

"I'll see you in a while." Ichigo said without giving Uryu a chance to finish what he had planned on saying and ended the call and shoved the phone in his inner pocket as he leaned back and rubbed the bridge of his nose through tightly pinched eyes.

...

Uryu slid his phone thoughtfully into his pocket and the blue hue in his eyes sharpened with a new resolve, his gaze snapped to Rangiku who was mingling with a few guests that waited for the ceremony to begin. He managed to catch her gaze and flagged her over to him, with a curious expression on her face; she parted from her partner Gin Ichimaru and walked to him.

"I'll need your help with something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Come with me."

Before either of them knew it, Uryu had packed Rangiku into his car and they were off. He had filled her in on the details of what he had planned and Rangiku, for the first time in her life watched the normally sombre and patient Uryu drive his car like a maniac. Rangiku gripped her seat tightly as he swerved through traffic and all the while speaking to her in a calm voice as he told her what to do.

"Y-Yeah, sure." Rangiku managed as Uryu took a sharp turn whilst muttering a curse under his breath and something about Ichigo being an idiot, he took another turn and came to a sharp stop in front of a boutique. Rangiku quickly stepped out.

"I'll be back just now. You know what to do." Uryu said and proceeded on his way, leaving the strawberry blonde to do what she does best.

Between rubbing his forehead with a bitter frown on his face, Uryu sighed as he pressed onwards. He sharply turned the steering wheel when he came to his destination and found the closest parking space he could find. He quickly walked through the doors and moved to the reception where the woman behind the desk stared at his attire oddly but nevertheless couldn't resist the urge to blush a deep tint upon his gaze piercing her until she had finally managed to give him a decent response.

Uryu moved to the elevators and impatiently waited for the system to finally slide apart for him, he easily slid through the people coming out and got in, pressing the button for his respective floor. His foot tapped against the floor as it lifted, he exhaled deeply. He glanced at his wrist watch and grumbled and when the elevator doors pulled apart. His neatly done hair shifted left to right as he contemplated in which direction his desired room would be in but eventually he picked a direction to start and as he checked the room numbers he stopped at his desired room.

His hand wavered on the sliding mechanism but as he shook off his uncertainty and prepared to pull the door apart, the door slid apart by unknown forces and a soft gasp escaped the lips of the woman before him. Her violet eyes widened in surprise at who was before her.

"M-Mr Ishida? W-What are you doing here?" she asked with a startled expression. Before answering the woman in front of him, Uryu grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him, forcing her to become weary of not tripping over her own feet.

"Mr Ishi-" Rukia bit her tongue as she recalled how he'd said she made him feel old when she called him Mr Ishida but nevertheless, why was he-?

"I swear, I'm always playing messenger." Uryu muttered as he pressed the elevator button and this time it came faster and they were quick to step in.

"Mr Ish- um- why are you-?" she asked when he still held onto her wrist as though he wouldn't let go.

"Why aren't you with Ichigo?" he asked her sharply with his back turned to her and Rukia's gaze turned downward.

"Uh- well-" she began hesitantly.

"Both of them are idiots." Uryu whispered to himself and as the doors slid open, he led Rukia out of the hospital building and towards his car. He glanced down at his watch and exhaled, there was still time.

"Get in." He instructed her as he approached the driver's side, he watched Rukia stand still in her spot after he had released her wrist. His piercing gaze lifted to the static woman and he deadpanned as she stood still in place.

"Kuchiki, we don't have a lot of time to waste so get in."

"Mr Ishida- I can't go." She barely whispered with her head tilted downwards. Her heart sped in her chest, how on earth could she go and watch the man she had once deeply cared for get married to another woman? It was unheard of. The mere thought made her stomach churn.

"Kuchiki, get in." His command became sharper. Uryu felt as though he was reliving another moment in his life, his fist clenched tightly as he thought back to sighting Orihime with Ichigo. The days when they were happy together, he remembered how happy they appeared together and no matter how many times he came to gaze at Orihime's smiling form beside Ichigo, he had been truly jealous of his friend. The woman he had loved was happily in the arms of his friend and whilst Uryu came to play the happy friend, his heart ached within.

When Uryu had been first to discover the relationship that Orihime had with Grimmjow, he was torn but as he stared calmly through the small opening in the door of their classroom, he sighed watching her lips joined with the blue haired delinquent in a passionate kiss whilst above them, Ichigo waited on the rooftop.

As silently as he could, Ishida slide the door shut; sealing the small opening he had stared through and walked towards the staircases to reach the roof top where he would preoccupy Ichigo until she came with her usual sweet smile and made an excuse about Tatsuki calling her for some help. Ichigo accepted her reasoning with a smirk and they had their usual chat, Uryu found himself occasionally shifting his gaze from Orihime to Ichigo with little to say. It wasn't long before he'd confronted Orihime as casually as he could and as she reached for his sleeve with a pleading gaze, he'd relented.

Uryu remembered that it was not long after that day that Ichigo got into a scuffle with the blue haired delinquent that had left him with a busted lip, a blue eye, a cracked rib and a shattered heart. Uryu recalled how Ichigo simply slung his bag over his shoulder, shirt undone and looking scruffy with a few blood stains on his white shirt. Ichigo had said nothing as he limped past Uryu after being sent home only to return two weeks later and when he returned, he returned with the man he'd become.

Distant, hard-hearted and emotionless... but regardless, he continued to pursue his relationship with Orihime. Whether it was denial or his own way of inflicting mental anguish on her... he didn't know.

"Rukia- get in." Uryu repeated himself, staring directly at Rukia who gulped.

"I can't go and watch Kaien-!"

"This isn't about Kaien!" Uryu finally exploded and as result he quickly drew Rukia into her shell. Perhaps he figured this would be his own way of redeeming himself, after watching how Ichigo had become an isolated man and barricaded himself, Uryu watched his friend –no- he watched this woman before him break down Ichigo's walls, breaking each stone slowly. As a result, he watched his friend become the man he used to be, someone with a little more life in him.

"You may not realise this Kuchiki but-!" Uryu paused, taking that moment to raise his spectacles over the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Kuchiki, let's go." He said and simply pulled his door open and got in, it was as he started the car that the sound of the passenger seat opening reached his ear and the woman slowly got into the car.

"Mr Ishida?" she began, shutting the door beside her with her gaze forward facing.

"Don't say anything." Uryu simply told her and just as quickly they were on their way, Rukia found herself gripping the seatbelt tightly over her chest with the occasional glance towards the man at her side who held a bored expression as he swiftly glided through cars, cutting some off and casually ignoring those that hooted at him. All at once and to Rukia's pleasure, they came to a brief stop in front of a boutique.

"Rukia?!" She heard her named called out and turned to see the bright smile of the long haired strawberry blond woman, her hand waved in the air as she laughed and moved to open the car door and pulled Rukia out. "Come on! Time is of the essence!"

"Rangiku-"

"-Don't take too long, I know." Rangiku answered as she dragged the young woman behind her into the shop.

...

"My, you look dashing... Kurosaki." A sugary sweet voice called onto the man that stared into the fountain, having isolated himself from the chattering bunch of dignitaries. Soft high heeled footsteps moved closer towards him.

"Thank you... Orihime" He answered without looking at the woman beside him. Orihime gently tilted her head towards the male and smiled softly.

"Look at me." She suddenly said and when Ichigo turned to her with a furrowed gaze, her hand rested on his tie and with a scowl Ichigo turned his body towards her as she began to fiddle with it. "It's too loose."

"..."

"Where's Rukia?" She asked with her gaze fixated on the tie, Ichigo turned his head away in response. "Actually – don't answer that. I might not like the answer. There, that looks better."

She patted the tie down with a sad smile and turned away from him, her elegantly curled hair fluttered with the soft breeze between them and she turned to look up at Ichigo with her stormy gaze.

"You've always had such beautiful eyes, Ichigo." She said, "It's a pity I may not see them again for a while."

Ichigo furrowed his brows, somewhat urging her to go on. Orihime shifted her form back towards the fountain whilst folding her arms over her chest.

"It would appear that I'm taking a flight out of Japan tonight. I'd like to think of it as taking a permanent vacation." Orihime laughed, "I'll be joining Tatsuki in Korea-"

"Tatsuki's in Korea?" Ichigo spoke with eyes widened. When had she left? Why hadn't she said anything?

"You didn't know? Well I suppose it's just like Tatsuki to be so spontaneous, I would've assumed she'd tell you." Orihime spoke, "She sounded so happy when she said she wanted to start her own gym."

Ichigo smirked, so the whole 'we're going out' thing out of the blue was her way of saying goodbye. He figured there was some motive behind her sudden decision to go out together but he didn't think-

"I'm sorry Ichigo." She whispered, "For everything."

"Whatever." Ichigo exhaled through lidded eyes and Orihime smirked before lifting her wrist watch to her eyes and sighed.

"It appears I need to get going before I'm late for my flight." She pouted, "It's a pity I won't be able to see Miyako, and after I got all dressed up for today..." Orihime flipped her hair over her shoulders and stepped away from Ichigo.

This was goodbye; it would be the last time she got to see him.

"See ya around." He said suddenly, bringing Orihime to an abrupt stop.

"Yeah..." she responded without turning back, Orihime smirked and took another step away from Ichigo. "Oh and Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"I fear I may not see Uryu so I'd like to ask that you send him my goodbye."

"Sure."

Orihime smiled softly and with new found calmness within herself, she moved to the car that waited for her. She'd have to send Miyako some flowers sometime when she settled in Korea, Orihime elegantly climbed into the car and sat upright as the door was closed by her driver. She stared out of her window at the distant form of the orange haired man she knew and her gaze softened.

"Mister, I need you to take me somewhere before the airport."

There was still one more thing she had to do.

...

Just as a car pulled out of the venue, Uryu pulled inward, his brows furrowed as he caught a glimpse of Orihime in the backseat of the vehicle. Her head held downwards as he stared at her but soon enough they were pulled in their opposing directions.

"Mr Ishida, is something wrong?" Rukia questioned and Rangiku was quick to flick her finger over her forehead.

"Look at you- being so formal! 'Mr Ishida'." She teased and Rukia laughed uncomfortably as Uryu shook his head as though nothing bothered him and yet the slight glimmer in his eyes defeated his answer.

When Uryu had managed to find another parking spot, they'd gotten out of the car and Rukia couldn't help but suddenly feel uncertain of herself as she fixed her outfit. Rangiku jovially muttered something about Gin probably worrying about her whereabouts by now and with that she left Ishida and Rukia together.

"Mr Ishida-"

"You can't turn back now, you're here already." He said and Rukia resisted cocking an eyebrow, it wasn't as though she'd planned to run away at this point. Uryu fixed his glasses over his nose and offered Rukia a hand; she stared at his palm and back to him although she couldn't see his eyes. She reached her hand to press against his own and he walked with her.

"Where could that idiot be?" he muttered and Rukia couldn't help the saddened look she gave Uryu

"**Unrequited love **is** a sad thing Kuchiki." **

Uryu led her through a crowd, the sun had already begun to set, giving the perfect reddish tint to the sky and as the gentle breeze caressed her skin, she felt as though the wind was trying to hasten her steps.

Step for step, Rukia could feel her heart throbbing against her chest.

What would she say to him?

What could she say to him?

As Uryu held her hand, Rukia found her mind wondering to how or rather why, Mr Ishida was doing this. Why was this man-?

Uryu released Rukia's hand and when she lifted a puzzled expression to glance at him, he stared forward, forcing Rukia to turn her gaze to what he was staring at.

And there **he** was.

Bowing his head respectfully in greeting before smiling towards an older male as he shook the man's hand. He proceeded to engage in some conversation with the old man and Rukia stared at his form, it wasn't her first time seeing him in a suit but still- he looked handsome.

Uryu stepped away from her, walking towards Ichigo, she prepared to call him back and then thoughts of fleeing the scene raced through her mind as Uryu approached Ichigo.

Ichigo breathed deeply as he feigned his brightest smile before the man in front of him, he nodded his head where expected and laughed when it was called for. As the man reached to pat Ichigo on the shoulder, the old man's hand was held by another.

"Ah- Mr Kunashi, what an honour to meet you." Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as Uryu grabbed the man's hand in both of his own and bowed respectfully before releasing his hands. "Please, Mr Kunashi, if you have time now, may I have a word with you?"

"A-Ah, well, young man. I'm not opposed to that." The man stated with a small chuckle. Uryu outstretched his hand for the senior to lead the way and snapped his gaze to Ichigo.

"You can thank me later." He said smugly before cocking his head behind himself, gesturing for Ichigo to look back and then followed the older male.

With furrowed brows, Ichigo slowly tilted his head to the small staircases and his eyes widened at what stood there.

**Rukia.**

Her eyes widened when his gaze came to rest on her own, she balled her hand into a fist and coughed into it a few times before biting down on her lip. Ichigo's eyes shifted over her form, from her shoes right up to her eyes and he blinked over. She climbed down the stair cases, her feet elegantly stepping downwards, it was as she reached the last stair and her heel pressed onto the stair that the heel wobbled and Rukia lost her balance.

"Wah-"

Rukia's wrists where grasped by strong hands as her head came to crash onto a firm chest. There was that smell again, that smell she knew only belonged to one man.

She lifted her head, her doe like coming to set on the honey-brown gaze of the man significantly taller than she, she gulped as a million thoughts raced through her mind.

"Uh- thanks." She said nervously as she finally balanced herself.

"I figured you wouldn't show." He said.

"I wasn't planning to." Rukia whispered as she stared at him then curved her gaze towards Uryu in the background. "But Mr Ishida-"

"I see." He simply said. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to be." He continued, his gaze turning dark as he turned his back on her and towards the fountain. With all the scenes that played in her mind of this moment, she definitely hadn't expected this one.

"Go, before it starts."

"Mr Kurosaki-"

"Go."

Rukia felt her hand attempt to reach his own but as he shoved his hands into his pockets, she shifted her gaze to his orange mane, hoping to find his eyes. Is this what he felt like when I-

This feeling.

Rukia couldn't find a word to describe the hollow imprint it left in her chest.

Balling her fists at her sides, her gaze stiffened.

"Ichigo!"

...

Orihime's footsteps sounded through the corridor, and as she silently slid the door open, her eyes softened and with some courage she entered the room where she was immediately overwhelmed with the disinfectant hospital.

She moved to the shelf and gently placed the bouquet she held in her arms beside the comatose man. As her gaze shifted from the flowers to the man, she swallowed the lump that grew in her throat and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. The back of her wrist came to her lips as she tried to lift her head away and choke back the sobs that threatened.

"How far was I willing to go?" she chastised herself as a tear left her cheek and she quickly brushed it away as though it hadn't been there. She reached for the man's hand, his blood red hair sprayed outward and gently held the cold hand within her warm ones; she bowed her head to the comatose man.

"I'm sorry." She said, "I'm truly sorry. I know you cannot hear me but despite that-"

"-Miss Inoue, my apologies, but we must head for the airport or you may be late for the flight." A voice called behind her and immediately spurned Orihime into brushing the tears in her eyes away as she released the man's hand from her hold.

"Of course, I'll be there at once." She informed the man and he bowed before leaving her to her business.

Orihime pressed her hands onto either side of her face to feel how warm her cheeks were before she exhaled deeply. She bowed lowly to the sleeping man and turned her back to him as she moved to the door, with one last glance over her shoulder.

She smiled sadly and gently slid the door behind her shut.

That night, Orihime left to start a new life in Korea and as she boarded the plane, she offered Japan her farewell... knowing that she'd never return to this place. Her fingers clenched the picture she held of her, Ichigo and Uryu when they were in high school and her gaze softened over Uryu's jaded expression and with a saddened smile, she handed the picture over to her driver to be disposed of.

...

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo's eyes widened.

It was the first time she had ever said his name.

And as he was drawn towards the woman behind him, ready to say something to her, he was silenced by her lips that pressed against his own. She held him in place by gripping tightly onto his blazer as her lips caressed his own.

Instinctively, Ichigo's eyes slowly sealed shut as he accepted this woman's kiss; his hand left his pocket and gently secured itself around the woman's waist as he pulled her closer to himself to deepen their kiss.

"**I've never had a day where everything was clear and mild but after meeting this man; even when darkness passes and my steps are uncertain, I feel I can muster up the courage and continue walking."**

"**I raced ahead up to now without rest and my mind focussed solely on my objectives; but after meeting this woman, I learnt that occasionally stopping to reflect would allow me to see that the things I would truly come to treasure were right beside me."**

**...**

**And that's a wrap for this story! Do review! See ya!**


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